Stolen Fangs
by Bellemort2432
Summary: Mariella has it well.The senior Queen-Bee, a loving family, an elite gymnast, a sexy boyfriend, and to die for friends. That is, until she's kidnapped by a "cult" who believes they're vampires.Sucked into an older generation's feud, will Mia escape alive?
1. Prolouge

**Dear my Loyal, wonderful, amazing, awesome, inspiring readers:**

**I am re-doing this story. *Gasp!* Not too much, don't worry. Just enough so that everyone can keep up with it. So, here is the Prologue. Please read this, because I will be replacing each chapter as I go. **

**Thanks for supporting, and I hope you find this revised version a bit better, because I know I certainly do. **

*****Ace*****

_My heart pounds in my chest as I sprint through the dark corridors. My life depends on whether I can find an exit through this maze. _

_ "Keep going, Mia." I encourage myself in my head. I can't speak, or else they will hear me. They will bring me back into the lovely room that serves as a prison cell. My prison cell. _

_My feet thud on the black, smooth carpet as I run. My breath is labored, but I keep it quiet. The only thing that was protecting me right now was that they were all at the gala. When he found out I had slipped away, he would be following my scent quickly. _

_My lungs scream in protest at the work, but I force myself to keep going. My strappy heels had been ditched a long time ago, but I could feel the blisters that had formed popping under every step. _

"_Mia?" I hear an echo through the halls. My heart rate picks up and I turn a left, then a right, nearly hitting a wall. I know he is behind me, but maybe if I take enough turns, he will get lost. _

_I turn corner after corner, sprinting and skidding every other heartbeat. _

"_Mariella, I can hear your heartbeat. It is racing, isn't it, my dear?" The voice is mocking now. I can picture him laughing, which only infuriates me. I push myself harder when I see a door. _

_I run into it, turning the golden knob violently and sealing myself behind it. Once inside, I fumble with the lock. I know it won't help, but it may slow him down, even by a second. _

_Turning around, I see an outline of a cabinet against the darkness. A couch, a bathroom, a large bed….._

_I make my decision quickly. I jog over to the bed, squeezing myself under it. Once I am under, I look up to see a small space where the wood has splintered in the frame. I crawl up into the hole, bunching my body together so that I won't take up as much room. I try to slow my breathing down with the few seconds that I know I have. _

_I manage to stay silent as he squeezes the golden doorknob in his hands._

_I hear the smile in his voice. "Mia, my dear. Won't you come join me at the gala?" _

_Despite my better judgment and how paralyzed through fear I was, I rolled my eyes. _

_Even though I can't hear him pacing around the room, searching for me, I still know he is there. If only he wasn't so quiet…._

"_It seems to be Mia isn't in here." He pauses. "How inconvenient." _

_I hear the door open and close, and I breathe out a small sigh of relief. Still, I know he knows that I am in here. He is just waiting outside the door to strike. _

_I decide to stay in the hole. At least for a half an hour. _

_I tremble violently, the paralysis vanishing instantly. I succeed in hitting my spine against a plank of old, musky wood. "Damn it." The words slip out before I can stop them. _

_A chuckle resonates through the hallway-a mere door is separating me from my captor._

_Shit. He heard me. As long as he knew I was in here, I might as well try to find an alternate escape route. There goes that half-hour plan. I stealthily disentangle myself from the little cubbyhole in the bed frame and army crawl over to the rug in front of the bed. _

_The bed behind me, a large oak cabinet, and a window are the only noteworthy items in the room. _

"_Don't even try the window, honey. I could hear that open from miles away." _

_Instead of justifying him with an answer, I crawl over to the cabinet. Slowly turning its knob, I peer in to find only stacks of blankets. Past them, though, was enough room for me. _

_Creeping over to the window, I take a deep breath and slip the unlock lever on the side of it. The pane slowly started to unfurl outwards as I silently bounded into the cabinet, shutting the doors in front of me._

_Something crashes into the right side of the cabinet-a door. I carefully curl myself behind the stacks of blankets as a snarl resonates through the room. I hear a bed being thrown apart, a window pane shattering, a cabinet violently shaking… _

_No. I wasn't hearing that part. I was feeling it. _

_The blankets tossed around the empty space before draping over me in a messy array. I stayed silent, even when my arm was thrust into an edge. When the shaking ceased, I was covered in blankets from head to toe. As I was about to uncover myself, light seeped in through the direction of the cabinet doors; I became motionless, even halting my breathing. _

_Poking began to form at random points on me. Pokes from fingers. One in my open mouth was particularly unpleasurable since it stuffed a wad of feathers down my airway. Pokes from all sides hindered me. Numerous poked on my thighs and stomach occurred. I was hoping he would not poke in an off-limits area; this wish was most definitely not granted._

_After several pokes, he slammed the two cabinet doors, followed by a louder slam-the door. When the sound had faded away, I heard him speaking. _

"_She got away. Somehow…I just don't know." He was angry. "Alert the guards and the staff; if anyone is sheltering her, they will be executed. Secure the perimeter." _

"_Of course." The voices cease. I decide to wait a good ten minutes before continuing on. He would surely stand guard in front of the door here for a little while, in case he missed something. When no doors opened and no sound was heard, I disentangled myself from the blankets and quietly opened the cabinet doors. No one was in the room; I looked out the window; two guards were walking this way. I jumped out of the cabinet, softly shut those doors, and hid beside the far side of it, closest to the room door. _

_Two flashlights shined into the room as I pressed up against the wall. After a minute or two, one of them grunted, a beam of light disappearing from the room. "How in the hell did she get out?" _

_Another voice responded, a whisper hushing his voice. "Didn't you hear? She's special. She could have easily escaped." The first one bellowed out a laugh.  
"Escape that vampire? Sure chance. I bet she's still in the room." _

_Another minute passed before the second voice reappeared. "Someone's coming. Come on, we can't be seen slacking off!" The last beam of light disappeared and heavy footsteps quickly faded away from the window. I took their noisy footsteps to open the room door and escape into the hallway. _

_I start to run. The hallways all look the same; dim, only one light for every hall, black paint and black, machete carpet. This doesn't help my escape plan much. _

_I take lefts and rights, only hoping I'm getting closer to my destination. I stumble into walls at times, due to the lack of light. _

_After ages, I see a small sliver of light sitting at the end of a hallway. I run towards it, knowing that the red double doors I've been searching for are at the end of this hallway. _

_My heart beats rapidly. I am so close to escaping this hell. I can imagine the feel of the iron handle in my hand. I can see each dent and mark that is carved into the doors. I feel as if I'm in slow motion. My legs won't go fast enough towards the scattered moonlight that will set me free. _

_I'm only inches away as I reach out my hand, yearning to grasp the iron handle. My breath catches as I see him blocking the doors, less than a second before I would have grabbed the handle. I run into him, my body crumpling up against his rock hard ivory skin. _

_I crumple to the ground, groaning as I curl into a tight ball. I clutch my ribcage as pain pulses inside of it like a tennis ball. _

_He bends down, throttling me with one leg on either side of me. His cold, piercing, breath sweeps over my face. "How cunning you are." _

_I look up through teary eyes to see him smiling, dazzling white teeth ensconced in his mouth. Only after my eyes adjust do I see the tiger teeth protruding from where his canines should be. _

_Fangs._


	2. Chapter One Forbidden World of Fables

_**Welcome to the new, revised Chapter One! I would like to thank you all, and I really hope you like this new version. I know I do; I stayed up til' 1:30 in the morning writing the last 10 pages of this chapter. **_

_**Seriously, REVIEW, or I won't know what you think. If you think it's horrible, I'd like to know. If you think it's great, I'd like to know. If you think it's just blah, I'd like to know! I like to know everything! That you think about the story, of course. **_

_**Thanks for reading. Enjoy Chapter One!**_

_*****Ace*****_

_Chapter One_

The sudden slam of my locker door rang in my ears as David casually slung his arm around my shoulders while planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

"Hey." He basically grins the word at me. I can't help but smile. "Hey yourself."

"Are you ready for the first day of school? Our junior year?"

I nudge him with my elbow as we start walking. "I sure hope so. It's going to be crazy."

"What, worried about chemistry?" He asks smugly.

I frown. "Just a little. You're the science geek, you know." He stops in his tracks and turns to face me.

"I am _not._" A sputter of laughter escapes my lips.

"Please, David, give it up. You know, your help in science may be the only reason I'm dating you."

He grins. "Mariella Fia Clough, are you admitting to using me?"

I smile and lean in for a kiss on tip-toe. "Just a little bit." I murmur.

He laughs and pulls us along in his fast-paced stride. As we turn a corner, a tornado of black hair whips between us before catching on our linked arms. It stops and becomes a face.

"Mia! I haven't seen you for, like, a week! I've missed you!" Katy squeals and throws her arms around me. David drops his arm in favor of holding my hand. I hug Katy back with one arm.

"I've missed you too, Katy." I say, not surprised in the least that I mean what I just said.

David coughs, interrupting our reunion. "I've got basketball after school, so I'm not available today. Tomorrow, though?"

I nod. "Yup. Sounds good." Katy squirms out from between us as we lean in and kiss goodbye for a moment before he smiles and turns away.

Katy waves her hand in front of my face. "Helllooooo? Mia? Come back to me!" She shakes my shoulders. "David land is very dangerous if you stay in there for too long."

I giggle as Jeanelle walks up behind Katy. Her long caramel-colored hair swung around her golden-tanned arms. The opposite of Katy, who had short, pixie black hair and was incredibly pale.

"Hey guys." Jeanelle smiles as Katy slings an arm over her shoulder.

"What's poppin'?" Katy greets her. Both Jeanelle and I stare.

"Poppin'?" I ask doubtfully.

Katy rolls her eyes and removes her arm from Jeanelle's shoulder. "Alright, fine. I was just trying it out." Jeanelle demurely laughs.

"I haven't seen you in awhile, Jeanelle. How was Malibu?" I ask her. She spent a month up there every summer with her mom, who was currently working with a modeling agency and insisted that Jeanelle model for the duration of her stay.

Jeanelle rolled her eyes. "My mom is a control freak. She thinks that if I model, the universe will be all aligned and whatnot." She wiggled her fingers. "I hate modeling. They poke and prod me every which way and aren't nice in the slightest." She frowns.

Katy pats her shoulder. "Tough life. You're beautiful and wanted for a modeling agency but they're just not good enough for you. Oh, sigh!" Katy puts a hand to her forehead dramatically. Jeanelle, although seemingly irritated about the whole ordeal, cracks a smile.

Katy recovers from her faux faint. "Well, well, look at us! The three amigas, back together on the road! Or, rather, in the hallway at school."

I laugh and glance at the clock. "And two minutes late to first period." I swiftly grab my bag and set off in a jog while yelling over my shoulder "Good luck with classes!"

I trudge through the glass doors of my house. The first few days of school were always horrid.

Charlotte, our housemaid and longtime family friend, was bustling about in the kitchen in a cherry pattern apron. I smile and throw my bag on the counter, taking a seat on one of the high stools.

"How was it?" She asks, not bothering to look at me.

"What do you think?" I ask her. She shrugs.

"Just wondering if you had attained a better attitude towards private-schooling education." She looks back and winks at me. I stick my tongue out.

"Do we have any jello?" I walk over to the fridge and search around it, however, my search is fruitless. A tap on my back reveals Charlotte holding out a bowl of lime jello.

"Freshly made…well, yesterday." I grin.

"Thanks, Charlotte."

Grabbing my school bag, I run over to the stairs and take them two at a time, with a "Don't forget about gymnastics at seven!" from Charlotte reverberating through the stairs.

"When do I ever have a break to forget about it?" I grumble quietly, slowing down my fast pace up the stairs into a walk.

A hand on my shoulder stops me from walking towards my room. It doesn't surprise me too much; Charlotte has the hearing of a cat. Turning around, Charlotte is standing behind me. "Do not give me your attitude, Mariella. It's you who started this whole fiasco; it's you who's training for the Olympics."

I roll my eyes. "I know, I know. I'm just saying, when have I ever forgotten?" Charlotte stares me down with her hawk-like eyes. I sigh. "Alright, fine, I blew it off once. Once! Give me some credit, Charlotte! I've got it."

She pats my shoulder in a half approving way before giving me a smile and leaving me to myself. I sigh and shovel down another spoonful of jello before crawling up onto my bed, kicking my door shut with my foot.

Spilling open the contents of my backpack, I realize I have trig., chemistry, English, and history homework to complete before heading to the gym for four hours. It was already 4:45. I sighed and put my bowl of jello down. It was going to be a long two hours and fifteen minutes.

"Four minutes, Mia!" Charlotte calls. I groan, finishing off my last trigonometry problem. Time had flown by. Scattering all of the loose papers as I bounce off my bed towards the closet, Charlotte yells again.

"Three!" I roll my eyes while simultaneously closing my closet and slipping on a practice leotard. I swiped a pair of dirty sweats and a tank top before bounding down the stairs, gymnastics bag in hand.

Charlotte whips around as I stop behind her. Hands on her hips, she inspects me. "Your hair?" She reaches out to do it. I swat her away.

"I'll do it in the car." Charlotte grumbles at my response but briskly follows me out to the car. I stop at the driver door. "I can drive myself, Charlotte."

Charlotte rolls her eyes hurriedly, almost too fast for me to catch them. "You can drive if you want."

I sigh. "I mean, I can go alone." Charlotte slams her hands down on the hood of the car, forcing a loud clinging metallic sound to reverberate throughout the garage.

"Dammit, Mia! There's no time for this argument again! Get in the car; I'm driving." I stare at her critically before huffing and climbing through the driver's side window onto the passenger seat. As I clicked my seatbelt into place, Charlotte was already in the driver's side and pulling down the driveway.

Grabbing my brush and a few hair bands, I start to braid my hair back into the standard practice bun. Charlotte throws me a few glances before grunting a few times. I roll my eyes, finishing off the bun.

Charlotte was young. Whenever I went anywhere with her, others assumed she was my sister. Somewhere in her late twenties or early thirties, Charlotte had brown hair that was shades darker than mine and natural streaks of red peeked through the curtains of her long brown hair. We looked fairly similar, so I guess we could be considered "sisters". I just didn't see it.

Charlotte pulled into the gymnasium parking lot. "Be in this car at eleven sharp. I do not want to get in trouble again for getting you home late." I scoff.

"What's got you so tightly-wound, Charlotte? You're like a guitar string about to snap. It's just like, holy hell, where's Charlotte?" I give her a lopsided grin.

Charlotte rubs her temples. "Don't swear, Mia." I look at her, at a loss for words, when she continues. "Even though I swear doesn't mean you have to. And I'm just busy for the next little while, Mia. So don't test me anymore, yes?" I nod begrudgingly while opening the car door.

"See you at eleven." I say, throwing the car door behind me and jogging towards the gym's entrance. In the reflection of the glass doors, I spy Charlotte tapping rapidly on her phone before holding the phone up to her ear, annoyance and worry crossing her face. Yup, she had something going on.

11:13 read on the dashboard as I hopped into the vacant car. Where the hell was Charlotte? I sighed and turned on the overhead car light, only to find a note laying on the driver's seat.

"_**Mia, drive yourself home, sweetheart. Sorry for snapping earlier. Don't wait; drive home the minute you see this. Don't look nervous. Just. Drive. **_

_**-Charlotte" **_

What the hell? I crumpled up the note and slid over into the driver's seat, pulling out my phone and placing it in one of the cup holders. I backed up the car and locked all the openings into the car, including the overhead roof. Her note had me worried. Just a little.

Pulling out of the parking lot, I slam down on my brakes as a black sedan rushes by on the empty road, nearly hitting me. The sound of my own squealing tires fill my ears as I narrowly avoid the curb. Tears bud in my eyes as I take several deep, haggard breaths, trying to calm myself as I pull onto the road. The rest of the fifteen minute drive was silent save my halted, inconsistent intakes of breath as I sobbed.

"Wake up. Time for school." An alarm clock chittering noisily; sunlight peering in through the half opened curtains; Mum shaking me, trying to wake me up. Those were the conditions of the next morning.

I groan, tossing myself away from Mum. "I don't feel great." I tell her, clutching my stomach and moaning in pain as my head pounds. Mum rolls her eyes.

"Just today, dear, I'll let you stay home. Don't expect me to be this lenient any other day."

I try at a smile. "Are you ever lenient? We ought to mark this day down."

She frowns. "Another word out of you, missy, and you're going. I'm only letting you stay because of your…incident…last night." I give her a thumbs up.

"Noted. Let me sleep." I groan, throwing my hand on top of my alarm clock, silencing it as my door closes, marking Mum's exit.

11:56. That's the time when Charlotte comes into my room with a bowl of cereal, forcing me to sit up in bed, eat, and talk to her.

"You sure slept a lot." She comments as I slowly raise a spoonful of cereal and milk to my mouth.

"No shit, Sherlock." I mumble around my spoon. Charlotte smacks me on the side of the head.

"No swearing. You're still a kid." I roll my eyes.

"You swear all the time!" I shout. Well, I try, anyways. It comes out in a spray of milk that lands in the spot where Charlotte was just sitting. She had stood up like lightning, snatched the towel off of her shoulder, and caught it. I keep eating. Charlotte was like a cobra on a daily basis.

After she throws the towel into my bathroom sink, she comes back to sit on the bed next to me. "How are you coping?" She asks seriously.

"Coping with what, may I ask?" Charlotte eyes me as I keep looking at my cereal, fixated. She groans.

"You're so stubborn. With the near hit-and-run last night." I stare at her like a deer in headlights. I hadn't told anyone about that. No one had been up when I had made it home.

"How'd you know?" I ask her, suddenly suspicious. In fact, how had mum known this morning? It was Charlotte's turn to fidget. I watched her silently, scrutinizing her for a minute. "Char?" She sighs before looking up at me with big, cautious eyes.

"Mia, things are…changing. The whole predicament was set in motion a long time ago, and it certainly can't be prevented now. Just be careful for the next little while and everything will be…"

"What, fine?" I finish for her, irritated. "Just like everything would have been fine if that sedan barreled through me at eighty miles per hour?" She looks at me with an expression I can't place. I haven't seen it on her before. "Because, if that is really just the beginning of this 'predicament' whoever the hell got us into, then I should start writing a will and finalizing a few funerals; one being my own." I glare. "What the hell are these 'things' that are changing?" I involuntarily spit the last sentence at her as she hunched away from me.

"I'll come back to talk to you when you've cooled down." She says, composing herself and standing. I snatch her arm and drag her back down.

"No. You brought this up. You'll tell me now." She tries to stare me down, but I hold her gaze until she looks away, tucking her face behind her hair in an ashamed manner.

"It's not my place to tell you. You'll just have to wait until someone's ready to explain it to you." On her last word, she's up and out of the room.

"Sushi?" I ask cautiously when I walk downstairs that evening. Mum nods her head.

"Yes, dear. It's one of the times where we can eat it without your father having a fit about the smell."

I smile. Dad hated sushi.

I take a seat in one of the white leather chairs and open up the sunshine rolls. I grab a pair of chopsticks and stab a roll, plopping it into my mouth.

I chew thoughtfully as my mother takes a seat across from me.

"Thanks for waiting," She mumbles.

I beam and say around the roll "Your welcome." It comes out as a "mu ellcom."

"Did you get your homework for tomorrow?" I nod in answer to Mum's question.

"Between Jeanelle, Katy, and David, I have everything." Mum nods in approval.

"I expect you to have that done and ready to go for tomorrow. You are certainly not missing another day of school."

"Yup, standard protocol, Mum." She raises an eyebrow at my words. I throw my hands up in the air, nearly slapping my stabbed sunshine roll against the wall. "I've got it, don't worry, Mum." I smile, willing her to give me one back. She reluctantly smiles.

I swallow the role, and I'm about to stab another when the doorbell rings.

Moma stands up, worry filling her eyes. "I'll get it," she says hastily and speed walks towards the door. I can't see, but I strain my ears to hear what's going on.

Charlotte's shrill voice is filled with terror. "They're here. Well, I mean, they've been here the whole time but I just didn't know until now and it's too late now. They're on their way and they know James is out of town and-" Wait. My James? As in, my dad?

"Charlotte, you have to calm down and take Mia to safety." Mum's voice is an urgent hiss. "You know the room. Take her-now. We'll be in touch." She pauses. "I trust you, Charlotte. With my daughter. You're like my sister. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't get hurt. Either of you." Charlotte nods and walks behinds Mum, locking the front door as they come towards me. Mum takes my face in her hands.

"Mariella, I need you to listen to me very carefully." I smile.

"You're talking to me like a child, Mum. I'm sixteen."

Mum slaps her hand to her forehead. "Mia, there is no time for this now. Listen to me. There's serious danger. Charlotte's going to take you to a safe house, of sorts, and explain everything to you there. I need you to listen with an open heart and trust her. I wish your father and I could tell you ourselves, but we can't, not under these circumstances. Dad and I will be back when it's safe. Do not leave the place Charlotte takes you and follow all of her rules. I won't see you for a few days, at the least. You very well may die if you do not follow her instructions. You hear me?" I nod, a bit scared. "And, Mia, don't ever forget. I love you." She kisses my forehead before handing me over to Charlotte. "Bye, Charlotte. Be safe." She murmurs to Charlotte.

"You too." As they break apart, Charlotte grabs my hand as I stuff one last sunshine roll into my mouth while clutching my phone as we run downstairs.

I honestly have no idea how our basement is much safer than our kitchen, but I soon know when Charlotte drags me into my father's office.

I had _never _been in there. It was off limits for me. It always had been.

Charlotte types in the quick lock on the door and shoves me in. "Go now, go on!"

I stumble through the door, only to be pulled along again down a large hallway.

"What the hell is this place?" I scream, right before Charlotte's hand clamps down on my mouth. "Hush! They'll hear you."

Finally, we stop at a door that has a padlock on it. Charlotte types in another complex code. Charlotte shoves me through the door, and I expect to see another hallway. To my dismay, I instead see a grand circular room. There were at least seven hallways leading out of it.

"Ah, shit," Charlotte mutters under her breath. "I absolutely hate this part."

I have no idea what she is talking about, but she starts rapidly moving her fingers around the room, trying to count the hallways in some specific order.

After what seemed like ages of watching her fingers move through the air, she chooses a hallway that is towards the back of the circle and slanting towards the left. She grabs my small hand and drags me along with her as she ran like there was a mass murderer behind her.

For all I knew, there might be one behind me.

Although there are many options and ways to turn, Charlotte keeps going straight. We approach an ordinary wooden door with no pad lock, no cameras, no nothing. Just a simple lock.

Charlotte twists the knob to find that the door is locked.

"Damn it," she swears under her breath. "They're going to hear this."

With that, she knocks loudly on the door three times as it swings open. She pushes me in, and I gape at what I see.

This was definitely not an office.

The walls to the large room were cold, sheen steel. Various weapons covered all of the walls, ranging from swords, archery, spiked balls on chains, guns, and stakes. The floor is scattered with arrows, bullets, bayonets, and all matter of things.

I gasp. Charlotte just tows me towards the back of the room. I stumble over many things, and succeed in scraping my knee before making it to the back of the room.

"Hurry! Get off the ground!" Charlotte hisses at me.

I scramble to my feet and run over to her before she disappears into the wall.

"What the hell?" I mumble, standing there bewildered.

Charlotte streams swear words under her breath before hissing, "Come on!" And grabbing my arm. I yelp a little and follow clumsily after her.

To my surprise, Charlotte hadn't slipped through the wall. It was just a hallway that was camouflaged brilliantly.

We stumble down the hallway and I nearly slam into Charlotte when she skids to a stop.

She takes a sharp right and we break into a sprint, once again. My lungs are bursting in pain, but I am being dragged by Charlotte's steel grip.

She types in yet another pad lock and shoves me through the door. When she runs through the door, she shuts it closed urgently but silently, securing the lock. A pad lock is on this side of the door, too, and she types in a code to lock it again.

I stare at the room. Unlike the weapons room, this one is amazing.

It was huge. Pastel walls and carpeted floor covered the premises, but, other than that, the room was bare. Behind a half wall was a small kitchen bar. The fridge was stocked with enough supplies for months.

A tap on my shoulder interrupts my survey of the room. I spin around to see Charlotte. "Go to your room and get settled."

I frown. What was the point of coming down here if I had to walk right back upstairs? "Okay then, but I'm not sure I know how to get back upstairs." I walk towards the door, but Charlotte whimpers "No!" before running over to grab me.

"You can't go back upstairs. You'll…well…bad things will happen."

I stare at her. "What room should I go to, then?"

She points towards the right door in the back of the room. "That one. That's your new room."

I sigh and walk towards the room. "Why can't I go upstairs?

Charlotte sighs. "Go get comfy; this is where we'll be staying for a while."

I frown and walk over to the door. I walk into the room to be stunned once again.

A king-sized bed is in the far right corner, royal purple sheets, pillows, blankets, and throws covering the whole bed. The frame was made of mahogany wood, thin purple silk twisting around each pole.

On the wall beside it was a walk-in closet. I open it to find many pairs of new, expensive clothes in there waiting for me to try on. I finger each fabric and walk towards the back to find another hidden hallway.

I don't go through it, because I am too terrified of getting lost.

I walk out of the closet and stare straight at a couch that I had missed. It was a plush, velvet red with a fuzzy black throw over the side. It was facing a flat screen.

I'm sure this isn't the right room for me.

I'm facing the door I came in now. On the right wall, a large wooden door is plastered. I open it to find a master bathroom.

A silky white tub, a cream colored shower, granite counters, and a toilet wrapped up the bathroom. I see by the bath my favorite bath salts, lily-rose shampoo, conditioner, and my shaving cream and razor.

I'm about to doze off into a deep, peaceful sleep in my bed when Charlotte makes an appearance. Hesitantly opening my room door, she spots me with an aggravated look. I sit up and lean back against the array of pillows behind me, folding my arms.

She sits down on the corner of the bed, leaning against one of the posts and crossing her legs together. Rolling her hands together, she looked at me apologetically.

"I'm sorry this is happening." She begins.

I cut her off. "I can't be sad; I don't know what the hell is going on!" My voice elevates to a yell.

"Shut it, Mia!" Charlotte hisses. "Now is _not _the time for being loud. While we're down here, you need to stay as quiet as possible."

"And why is that?" I ask her, suddenly irritated. She falls silent.

"The next few things I tell you require you to have an open mind. You remember your mum telling you to have an open mind and believe me no matter what? Now is the time to apply those words." I nod. "You trust me, don't you?" She asks me timidly. I nod.

"Of course I do, Charlotte. You know that."

She nods vigorously, tears glistening in her eyes. "I had to hear it one more time before I tell you. I won't hear it again for awhile. Just, promise me something."

"Of course."

She sucks in a breath. "Remember what you just said; that you trust me. Even after I tell you what I have to."

"Charlotte, what would make me change my mind on that?"

She avoids my question. "It was supposed to be your parents who told you this, but they just couldn't bring themselves to do it in time. And now, it's up to me, and I have to look like the crazy lady who ruined everything."

"What the hell are you talking about, Charlotte?" I was totally lost.

Clasping her hands together, she raises her eyes to look up into mine. "Mia, have you ever thought that…legends…could be real? Non-fictional?"

I think. "Well, when I was ten, I thought that Harry Potter was real and that I was waiting for an acceptance letter into Hogwarts, but then my letter never came."

Charlotte chuckles and shakes her head. "No no, not like that. More like…fae, and werewolves, and vampires and whatnot."

I cock an eyebrow. "Like, Twilight? Because if you're implying that I'm a die-hard Twilight fan, you've got to get to know me better-"

"No, Mia, not like that. Just the idea of supernatural creatures."

I shake my head. "Nope. There's no point in trying to trick yourself into believing they are real. It just ends up in girls tripping over themselves for a fictional man that will never come to get them, nor will ever love them."

Charlotte sighs. "I'm going to tell you a story; one that you need to hear. And I need you to listen to the whole thing, no matter what. Okay?"

I nod. "Fine. Story time is always fun."

"It was 1603, and England had recently inherited a new monarch after Queen Elizabeth I's death. James I of England had just stepped up to the throne as the Black Death made another sweep through the land. The Puritan religion was steadily gaining more members during this time period, and, although many agreed with the views of the church, there were an elite few who strongly disagreed with the whole religion; and would do anything to demolish it.

"Meanwhile, two upperclassmen, Giuseppe of France and James (not King James) of England, were traveling from town to town selling their miracle remedy that could reverse the effects of the Black Death. If their remedy was taken early enough, it could heal the victim within 72 hours. The two of them were profiting well from the business. They were hitting all the victimized towns that would have been wiped out if it weren't for them; they could inflate their prices without actually causing inflation.

"In the heart of England, where James I of England resided, contention was stirring. The elite group of nonbelievers was growing in a rapid, hysterical way. As their numbers grew, deaths began to become more of an event. Strangely enough to those onlookers, the causes of death were inconsistent to those of the Plague. Rumors began to arise until they reached James I of England.

"As these rumors reached higher ranking officials and authorities, the two businessmen Giuseppe and James came to town. They were instantly bombarded with extensive rumors which were becoming more elaborate by the day. Giuseppe let it spill that they were carrying a remedy to the Plague. Villagers who had been through an unfortunate loss asked for a test of the remedy to see if it would work on reviving the lives of their lost ones.

"After experimenting and swapping out a few ingredients in favor of others, it turned out to revive the victims to some extent; they would live, but in a comatose state. As the remedy spread around the towns surrounding them, so did talk. The nonbelievers heard of this miracle remedy, and knew that, in a matter of time, one of the patients would wake up and be able to explain what caused their death. This would lead to the downfall of their society."

I stopped Charlotte. "Well, how did these victims die, if it wasn't the Plague?" Charlotte gives me a pointed look.

"I'm getting there, Mia. Don't rush the story; that takes out the excitement." Although it was an old fable of sorts, I was completely enthralled with it all.

"Anyways, the nonbelievers knew they had to act fast if they wanted to keep their secret. After all, they were starting to look suspicious, at the least, for the series of events leading to these unidentifiable deaths. So, the night before Giuseppe and James were planned to departure the town and move on to another, the nonbelievers lured them into a 'business deal,' or so they called it. It was going to be a big one, too. Giuseppe and James had reason to believe that, after they made that sale, they would be very close to being able to retire for the rest of their lives in large, expansive homesteads with multiple fields and hundreds of thousands of livestock. It was a monumental offer.

"Giuseppe and James arrived at the given location, only to be tied up, gagged, and blindfolded as the nonbelievers went through their merchandise. It would be their last deal concerning their remedies.

"All their senses weren't muted, however. The two of them heard these nonbelievers conversing and debating over what to do with the remedy, and them. And, when they had decided, the outlook wasn't too bright. By the time the remedies were disposed of permanently, the two men knew the secret of the nonbelievers. And they were about to be in on it."

Charlotte paused. "Mia, the next things I say are going to sound crazy. Hell, if I wasn't so accustomed to them, I would be thinking I belonged in an asylum. That's what you'll probably think. But remember what you said earlier. I need you too." She intakes a large breath.

"Their secret was beyond the average human comprehension. And, once Giuseppe and James were in on the secret, they had no choice but to join that world. A world full of immortality, heightened abilities and senses, and, a world of bloodshed."

"What kind of world is this, Charlotte?" I ask her.

"Our world, Mia. One that you are now officially a part of, too. One that your mother and father have tried to hide from you since your birth.

"And so, the two of them were forced into a new, forbidden, ugly, monstrous world. They became the nonbelievers. The nonbelievers weren't just any people who didn't believe in the Puritan church; they were…special. You had to meet one qualification, one that, aside from the original nonbelievers, was forced on you."

Charlotte's words ran through my mind on a circuit loop. _Forced, bloodshed, heightened, immortality, forbidden, Puritan, special, qualification…Forced, bloodshed, heightened, immortality, forbidden, Puritan, special, qualification…_

"Giuseppe and James stayed with this group, causing havoc along with them. They weren't causing havoc purely for enjoyment. This group needed it to live; they needed the blood.

"It wasn't until about 80 years later that Giuseppe brought another into this world. Her name was Saria, a young, spunky woman who quickly fell in love with James. The three of them broke apart from the large group of their kind and began to wander alone, carefully picking victims throughout towns, finally gaining control of their bloodlust. 20 years after they parted, Giuseppe found his significant other, who, luckily, was already one of them.

"The group was like a family, and, over time, saw the mistakes of the way the others were carrying out their business. So they plotted, and, over the period of a couple revolutions, they rose to the top, superseding the previous arrangements. For 250 years, the peace between James and Giuseppe stayed solid.

"Until a secret was unveiled. Now living in the 19th century, James and Saria were living as a fairly happy couple. Back in the 1690's, about 10 years after they had first met, they had 'adopted' a young girl who had been turned into one of them. Her name was Salina. They loved her like they would their own child.

"But after two years of having their dear daughter, she became sloppy in her hunting, and was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. She was burned at the stake and drowned. James and Saria mourned for years afterwards. All they had left of her was a fang. When burned, this kind of…person…leaves behind only their canines. They can't burn.

"In the 19th century, the canine was stolen from them. James led expeditions around all possible areas while Saria interrogated each possible suspect. Neither of them expected to find that Giuseppe was the culprit. They found it in his room while leading a sweep of the castle they had recently acquired. The placement of the canine became a huge feud, driving a wedge between the couples and ultimately leading to a drop-out of James and Saria. Giuseppe swore he had not taken the canine, but the evidence was against him.

"When James and Saria split from Giuseppe and his significant other, they had a child. Not too long ago. To this day, the two parties still feud, and Giuseppe is planning his revenge on James and Saria."

"Wait, Charlotte. Hold up." She pauses as I hold up my hands. "You keep saying James and Saria. Are they, like, my grandparents, or something? Because I've never met them-my grandparents, that is."

Charlotte looked down. "That's because your grandparents died over 450 years ago. James and Saria-the ones I'm talking about-are the same James and Saria that you call Mum and Dad."

I shake my head. "No. Nope. That's not possible."

Charlotte wraps up her story. "Giuseppe is after their daughter as revenge. He caught wind of the rumor that mentions she is something never before to be in existence; a hybrid. She isn't fully human, isn't fully vam-"

"Don't say that word!" I shout. "Just don't!" Charlotte holds a finger to her lips. I shake my head. I take calming breaths. "No one can live that long. No one."

"You're in our world, Mia." Charlotte says calmly. "You always have been. You just know now."

"No I'm not! I just can't! It's just not possi-" I pause. "You said 'our world.'"

Charlotte's eyes fill with tears. "Mia, I-I…I'm part of that world, too. Me and your parents, we are part of that world. As are you. "

I run over her words with my own. "No no no no no. This cannot be happening. You're kidding."

"The two of us are down here in this safe room to hide you from Giuseppe. He is after you; his whole guard is dedicated to finding you. He has his son out looking for you. We have to be careful, Mia. If he catches you-"

I fall into hysterics. "What? What will he do, Charlotte? Make me a full vampire? Let me tell you the truth: vampires don't exist. This is all bullshit. I don't know what kind of trick you're playing but it's not amusing, so just quit it. I'm not falling for it. Let him take me!" I shove her shoulder. "Come on! Give me up! Let him take me!" I stand and run for the bedroom door. Instead, I slam into Charlotte. What the hell? How did she get in front of me so quickly?

"Get out of the way!" I kick as she ushers me over to the bed, where I finally fall limp and give up.

She tucks the blanket up to my chin. "Remember how, before I told you this story, I asked you to remember what you said earlier? That you trust me?" I stare up blankly at her as she speaks. "I need you to do that now, Mia. I need you to remember. And trust me." She walks away and out of my room without another word.

_"I need you to listen with an open heart and trust her."_

The ceiling is all I see before I doze off, blank dream canvases now covered in a catastrophe of jumbled stories and fables.


	3. Chapter Two :Genetics:

_**What a small chapter I'm giving you! Ah well. There's no use filling pages with useless words; that wastes time and ink. (If I was printing…) Anyways, hope you enjoy. Please Review, or I don't know what you like/dislike about it! Thanks for criticisms, praise, hate, etc. They all help. **_

_*****Ace*****_

_Chapter Two_

It could have been seconds or days later, but, eventually, I was conscious. And confused. What the hell was all that talk about…the supernatural? Was that it?

Then I remember. Right. That…that…bloodsucking fiend that doesn't exist. I groaned as I swung my legs out of bed and walked over to the closet in search of a new outfit. After selecting a butterfly blue tee and a pair of jeans, I walked through to the kitchen and picked a fresh nectarine for breakfast.

Charlotte stepped out of her room, completely ready for the day. "Morning, Mia." She throws me a smile as she ducks behind me towards the fridge. "How are you?"

I don't answer her as I polish off the last of the nectarine. "Mia?" I ignore her and retreat back to my room, locking the door and turning on the television to a random channel before turning my shower on.

A knock on my closed door sounded. "Mia? Try not to make too much noise. The shower's fine, but don't do anything too noisy, please. I don't want to wind up dead, and I would hope you don't, either." I grab the remote and turn up the T.V. a few notches, barely noticeable. "Mia, turn that back down now. I want it back to where it was." I roll my eyes and ignore her. I hear Charlotte's groan of exasperation followed by her "I will get in there and turn it down, Mia" before I hop into the shower, the steady water drops droning out her disciplinary voice.

A warm 45 minutes later, I was toweling off. The steam from the shower still fogged up the bathroom. It felt nice, after being completely dry for awhile. Steam was relaxing to me, in a way.

Exiting the bathroom, I remember my phone, lying on the comforter. I hadn't checked it since the day before. Although my hair soaked the pillows, I lay back against them and opened seven new texts.

Katy:

Where are youuu? (11:24 A.M.)

Hellooo? Flake! I'm stuck in History alone! (1:43 P.M.)

I'm kicking your ass for not responding to my texts tomorrow. (6:31 P.M.)

Jeanelle:

Where were you today? Katy's having a fall-out! (8:45 P.M.)

David:

You're leaving me alone in Chemistry. Who's going to tease me for being a nerd? (9:57 A.M.)

P.S. Your friends are nuts. ;) (10:22 A.M.)

Missed you today. Love you tons. You know that. (11:31 P.M.)

I laughed at their texts as I responded. But, as I thought about Katy, I decided I had to lie. I mean, she couldn't know my family was crazy. Not yet. Not over a text.

Katy:

-You're crazy. I'm sick. Won't be seeing you guys for a little while. Guess you're going to have to kick my ass another time.

Jeanelle:

-You can calm her down. I know it : ) Stay calm. Find her a cute guy to keep her busy. You'll be in the clear. Miss you!

David:

-I'm sure if you ask Katy she'll tease you for me. To your P.S.: They are nuts. So are you.

: ) Miss/love you too.

After sending those texts, I slipped into a simple workout suit that would suffice for stretching and lounging in bed. I turned the t.v. down and put on a random channel to serve as white noise.

As I started my stretches, Charlotte traipsed through the door and pulled up a chair next to my bed.

"How'd you get in?" I ask her, shocked.

"Why aren't you speaking to me?" She replies.

"Don't answer a question with a question."

"Why not?"

"Charlotte, I swear. First you say you're a…a…"

"A vampire? That's because I am. As are your parents. And you are a bit, too."

"You're insane."

Charlotte stares at me, unblinkingly. "It's reality, Mariella. I guess I should explain a little bit of the…anatomy to you." I stare at her unblinkingly. She sighs. "Fine. Just listen. When two vampires have a child, there are 4 outcomes that could happen, like with dominant and recessive genes in human genetics. However, the genes for these four types are neither dominant or recessive to each other. So, it's totally random. Are you following?" I give her a nod. "Since the parents were once humans, there is about a 49 percent chance that the offspring could be completely human; take the now recessive gene to each parent. You see, once venom is injected into an organism, the venom becomes dominant to the human genes. However, it is random in the offspring." I nod again, simmering through all of her words. "So scenario one is a full human. The next scenario would be a full-blooded vampire offspring. This takes up about 50 percent."

"Then, there's the one percent of offspring. This scenario becomes so rare at times, that, for centuries, it was forgotten; undocumented. This is when the offspring is fifty-percent human, fifty-percent vampire. They are revered, because, as half-humans, they have impeccable abilities that are supernatural to human standards. If they choose to become full-blooded vampires, however, they are extremely powerful and usually have incredible abilities that are unique to the average vampire. Super-rare, these ones are. Until about 17 years ago, they were forgotten. That is, until one was born."

"Let me guess," I start sarcastically. "That hybrid-child is tangled up in this mess with my parents."

Charlotte nods. "Yes, dear, she most certainly is. You're tangled up with her, too. In fact, you're the one in the most danger because of her."

"Well why doesn't someone just get rid her, then? I mean, if she is so troublesome." I didn't understand; why didn't they just dispose of her?

"You don't want that, Mia." Charlotte's voice drops down to a whisper as she looks down at the bedspread.

"Why not? She's causing me tons of trouble. We'd all be better off without her."

"Mia, you're her." Charlotte mumbles quietly.

"I mean, she even thinks she's a half-vampire. Who, besides you, would think that any-" _ways. _I stopped mid-sentence, realizing what she had said. "What?"

"You're the hybrid, Mia." She says, keeping her eyes downcast. I burst out in laughter.

Clutching my stomach, I gasp out "You're kidding me. First…ya…you thought that…." I pause, trying to catch my breath. "You think that you're a-a…a v-vamp-vampire! And then you say I'm-I'm-" I can't even finish the sentence, I'm laughing so hard.

"That's partly why Giuseppe is after you." Charlotte says, looking up. "But your amusement is not why I came here. I actually have other business to talk to you about."

I roll my eyes, recovering from my laughing fiasco. "Alright, whatever. Why did you come in here? Another gaelic fable to tell me?" I lather my voice in sarcasm.

"Actually, I am here to tell you something."

"What do you need, Charlotte?" I avoid her eyes.

"I have to tell you about the vampires who are after you. And why they are so dangerous."

I roll my eyes. "Okay, shoot. I'm _all _ears."

Charlotte flicks my ear. "Mariella Fia Clough, listen to me. I don't care if you don't believe the vampire part. Believe this: there are people coming after you, looking to do horrible things to you. And if you don't start taking this fact seriously, they will get you. Do you wanted to be tortured, raped, and murdered? Because, honestly, that doesn't sound like the greatest to me, but maybe you have differing views on those topics."

She had caught my attention. I tried not to show it too much, though. "Fine. What do you need to tell me?"

"Do you remember Giuseppe, from the history I told you last night?" She starts.

"You mean the fable?" I retort. "Yeah, I remember."

Charlotte sighs. "That is the man after you. When your parents disbanded from him, he became much more powerful, gathering all of your parents resources and employees. He is now the most powerful man in the vampire realm. Besides the guards who are on duty in the palace and protecting him and his family, the rest are all out searching for you. Yesterday evening, they rolled into town. That's why I took you down here. Your parents are trying to find a civilized way of communicating with him, however, he is not cooperating. Apparently, the time for talk is over…" She sighs and gives me a sidelong glance. "One of his sons is looking for you."

"What's his name?" I ask, my interest piqued from the mention of a guy. I shook it off. I was with David.

"Shane Dimitri. Those are his first two names. I actually don't know their last name…" Charlotte mused thoughtfully for a moment before flickering back into the conversation. "Anyways, Dimitri is Giuseppe's heir. He's supposedly insanely powerful. I wouldn't want to cross him."

"What classifies a-" I had to pause and force the word to form on my lips. "Vampire…as powerful?" I only asked the question out of sheer curiosity.

Charlotte tried to hide back a small smile. "Their strength, overall brain power, and unique abilities they have."

I chuckle. "So how powerful are you?"

Charlotte looks at me, surprised. "You don't tell anyone your power. That's like…it's like…telling someone your darkest secret."

"But you can tell me." I say, smiling, knowing she would give in.

She rolls her eyes. "I'm middle-class. Pretty strong but I don't think well in on-the-spot situations. My abilities aren't useless, but not particularly useful either."

"And what are your abilities?" I ask innocently.

She smiles. "No matter how hard you try, you won't get that one out of me. Or any vampire, for that matter. Not unless you know them better than you know yourself, and vice versa."

I roll my eyes. "Alright. So, what will they do with me once they get me?" I ask, changing the incredibly strange topic.

Charlotte casts her eyes downwards, suddenly enamored with the shadows of my bed. I throw my hands up in exasperation. "Hey, you were the one that wanted to talk to me. And now that I'm talking to you, you won't even answer my questions. Fantastic." I let sarcasm steadily drip into my voice. "Charlotte, it's been _splendid_ talking to you and all, but I really do have important things to do, like idly watching a crap show and sleeping. So, if you don't mind..." It was as if Charlotte hadn't heard me. "Char?"

She looks up drearily. "They'll examine you and decide whether you are worth keeping around...as a full vampire, that is…or expose of you." The words rolled through her mouth and into the air without hesitance, without emotion. They lacked any tangible meaning.

"When you say expose…" I start.

"I mean finish. Kill. Murder. Dispose." She said the words blatantly.

"All because of an accusation?" I tilt my head, trying to understand.

Charlotte nods. "Yes, Mia. All because of an accusation."

I sit there, motionless, for a few minutes, trying to sink it all in. Besides the vampire part, of course. I mean, parts could be true, right? About an accusation? And feuding families? That could definitely be true.

"I believe you," I say quietly. Charlotte looks up. "Only to some extent. I mean, families can feud, right? And this feud could be over an accusation. That makes sense. And people coming after me…well, it's plausible, to some point. The rest…it's just…" I struggled to find fitting words. "It's just not real, Charlotte. Not rational. Not even worth thinking about." I lower my gaze from her watchful eyes.

After a long moment, Charlottes pats my head. "Thank you for trusting me to some extent. I hope that, soon, you'll be able to see that I'm not pulling a fast one with any of this." She stood up and left me alone, once again. That was the second time since I had been down here. Instead of falling asleep this time, though, I continued my stretches in front of a T.V. that might as well have been off.


	4. Chapter Three :Found:

_**Sorry it's been so long, everyone! I like to wait to see all of your reviews, because some of them just don't come in until I haven't updated in awhile…? What's up with that? **_

_**Anyways, I won't be able to update for a while after next week, so I'm going to try to get in one more chapter after this. Nationals is soon!**_

_**I would also like to say R.I.P. Sicily and Eden…two fantastic horses who had so much potential and will be missed dearly. I know you guys don't know them, but Eden was just a foal and Sicily was a beautiful percheron-cross that I was bonded with very well. I love them both and miss them tons. **_

_**Last thing. If you want to get updates about the book, or just fun, exciting stuff, follow me on twitter. My username is Bellemort243. I've got some pics. Of Sicily up there if you want to see her. **_

_**As Always, review! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing; it means the world!**_

_*****Ace*****_

_Chapter Three_

"Dimitri, stop pacing, you will break through the carpet."

Dimitri groans. "Father, please."

Giuseppe walks up to his son, his gaze boring into Dimitri's eyes. "There is no time, Dimitri. We are leaving in thirty minutes precisely. I don't care whether you only have one sock on by that time or not; you are in the car ready to go. Understood?"

His son sighs. "Why must I find her? Have the guards do it."

Giuseppe growls. "Get your ass out of the mud, Dimitri. It will be good for you to hunt something besides a squirrel down."

"I hunt more than squirrels." He pauses. "And I think I would rather make mud-pies."

Giuseppe let out a guttural, throaty growl.

"This is not about what you would 'rather' do. Get your suit on. We're leaving soon."

A slam of a bedroom door accompanies Giuseppe on the way out of his son's room.

Crusty eyes and stiff limbs are the first feelings I have the next morning when I wake up. I expect sunlight to seep in through the window by my bed, as it usually did every morning. It doesn't; I forgot that I was in a far-away chamber in the depths of my basement.

Right.

A large yawn escapes as I stretch in a cat-like manor before hand-springing out of bed-it'd been awhile since I had done one of those. Dragging myself over to the door, I walk into the kitchen and grab some yogurt along with an energy bar for breakfast. I looked down at the food in my hands with a shrug; it was simple, but efficient.

The yogurt went down quickly, but the energy bar was dry and stuck along the sides of my throat. I hopped off the counter where I was perched and filled up a glass with clear water from the tap. Swallowing it loudly, I guzzled it down in one breath. I finished off the energy bar quickly afterwards.

Looking around the little living room, I decided there was nothing else to do out here. Going back into my bedroom, I stepped into the shower. Through the doors, I heard Charlotte get up and open the fridge, seeking food. I listen to small noises throughout the duration of my shower: Charlotte's footsteps cross from tile to carpet, faint creaks in the house, a mouse in the wall skittering across its threshold.

Twenty minutes later, I stepped out of the shower and into my steamy bathroom. Well, not _my _bathroom, really. More like my surrogate bathroom.

I had completely forgotten about my closet! When I opened it up, the vastness of it thrilled and terrified me for a moment. Shifting through the racks, I decided on a loose drawstring blouse and khaki capris. Dealing with my hair would be another matter; after stepping out of the shower, it acquired loose waves that, if not dealt with quickly, would turn into straight locks that exploded all around my face. It was like having poofy straight hair.

Halfway through blowing my hair, Charlotte barreled into the room, eyes wild with fear. "They found us." I turn the hair-dryer off.

"Come again?" I ask her.

"Giuseppe, Dimitri-They're here." She spits. I need you to turn that off and not turn any electrical things back on. Make as little noise as possible and try to find a hiding spot, okay? A hiding spot that is hidden to a trained eye. You hear me?" My thoughts go immediately to the closet, although it was an obvious place.

I nod. "What have my teachers been told about my absence?" I wonder aloud.

Charlotte pauses. "You're asking this _now? _Of all times?"

I pause before saying "Yup."

She sighs. "You're out of town with distant relatives on their ranch. Sound good?"

I nod in approval.

"Mia?" Charlotte looks at me with an intensity I've never seen on her before. "Even though you think I'm insane, this-" She pauses, tears clouding her majestic blue eyes. "This might be the last time I see you ev-awhile." I noticed that she caught herself from saying "ever" and swapped it out with "awhile", probably to calm both of us. "And, well, Mia, you're like my daughter, and I love you like one." She pulls me in for an embrace that is constrictor-tight and smashes my lungs.

Tears form in my eyes. "I love you too, Char." I whisper into her ear as I hug her back tightly. Eventually pulling away, Charlotte holds me at arms-length. "And don't you ever forget that." She says sternly. "Now go. Hide. This is important, Mia. Whatever happens, if it comes to fight or flight-"

"Choose flight, I know." I sniffle through rolling tears and a runny nose. Charlotte hugs me again and gives me one last long, meaningful look before fleeing out of the room at an impossible speed.

Wiping my eyes, I run over to the bedroom door and lock it shut. Then, I grab the water bottle by my bed, my phone, and slip into the closet, turning on the light to seek out a place to hide.

There were so many aisles of clothing, but, behind cross-sections and towards the back of the room, a small door was hidden behind a large drape the spanned the whole back wall. Flipping off the closet light, I squirm through the door and rearrange the drapes back into a natural position behind me before shutting the door. Faint outlines in the dark guided me.

After what seemed like forever, as I was just about to give up and fall down, I was deposited into a dim metallic room, covered wall-to-wall in large T.V. monitors, two to a wall. On the west wall, the two screens showed the front yard and the driveway. Nothing unusual with the front yard. However, parked in the driveway was a black Durango, unfamiliar to me.

Turning to the south wall, one of the monitors displayed the main floor while the other displayed the top floor, segmenting each room into different screen shots. On the north wall, the left monitor showed the main safe room I had just came from during my talk with Charlotte. It also split up the rooms into different shots. When the screen turned to Charlotte's bedroom, I saw her filling her suit with several weapons. I wish she would just hide.

I turned away from the north wall towards the wall I had entered through. Above the entryway was one large flat-screen, hosting a high resolution live-feed of my bedroom. That wasn't the part that was breathtakingly shocking, though.

On the screen, two men savagely tore apart my bedroom.

"Father, she is not here," I hear a dark haired man say through the monitor. His voice is smooth, frustrated. I couldn't help but smirk a little; had I caused that much frustration to him?

The Father continues to search. "She is, Dimitri. Can you not smell her? She is close."

So this was Dimitri…which meant that the father was Giuseppe. Despite the logic I had been hanging on to for the past couple days, I realized the little flower bud rapidly blooming in my chest was fear. I was afraid of those two men. So what if they weren't vampires? They could still be part of the mafia, or rapists, or murderers.

"Let us leave, Father. She musn't be too important." Dimitri states as he leans against a wall.

Giuseppe shoots daggers at his son. "No!" He pauses, contemplating for a moment. "As a matter of fact, you find her. You complained, and she can't stay hybrid. You find her, and we will take matters from there."

Dimitri's eyes bulge open at Giuseppe's words. "But father-"

"No, you are not getting out of this one. Go start to search the basement and I'll follow after you in a few minutes."

Dimitri stormed out of my bedroom, seething.

I expect to see him walking down the stairs and into the basement, but I don't.

I scan each monitor quickly. Where had he gone?

When I get to the basement, I see a flash. Everywhere around the screen, something zooms by.

I rub my eyes. Maybe it was just my vision.

Suddenly, the blur stops. I look to see Dimitri, standing in the middle of my father's office, pacing quickly. His quick pace almost blurred the screen.

So he was the blur?

I realize that in the depths of that office, I am hiding. So is Charlotte.

"Father," he says. I don't understand how his father will hear him, but in less than a second Giuseppe is standing beside his son.

"She is in here somewhere," Dimitri says, a small flicker of curiosity spiking his features for the first time.

Giuseppe stays silent for a moment, completely still.

"Yes, she is indeed." Giuseppe agrees. "Guards."

Four more men speed into the room. "Take the hallways. Find her." With that, the four men speed down some hallways.

"Dimitri," Giuseppe begins.

"Father?"

"Take a hallway. I'll take one too. We aren't leaving without her."

"Of course. Oh, Father?"

"Yes?"

"Why must _I _turn her if she decides for it?"

Giuseppe assumes a dark, wicked glint in the depths of his eyes. "You may find something more there than just a nuisance."

"Father," Dimitri begins in an exasperated tone before being cut off.

"Now go." Giuseppe orders as he strides down a hall.

Dimitri grumbles "Yes sir." before taking off down a hallway.

I sighed. If I had to stay in hiding all day, it was going to be a long day.

I slump against the west wall, moaning quietly. It had been at least three hours since Dimitri had entered my father's office, and, steadily, he was approaching me-and Charlotte.

Dimitri walked with a stature that commanded attention. Back straight, shoulders relaxed, and swinging muscled arms, he emanated confidence-and arrogance. If we were in a different situation-any, actually-I would have found him unmanageably attractive.

As I sat back against the wall, I watched him traipse through the hallways. When he took a wrong turn, he would immediately trace back his footsteps to find the correct way. It was like a deadly game of cat and mouse; the mouse could only hide for so long before the cat found it.

I was still thoroughly confused as to why they wanted me. I was full human, as was Charlotte, and everyone else. This stupid game of vampire was getting old.

I sigh and rub my eyes, only to see Dimitri stop walking. He heard me. Once again, I am astonished on how he did.

A smile runs across his face. "My, you aren't close at all, are you?"

I almost snort. I wouldn't want to be close to him.

"Let the games begin," I mumble half-heartedly.

Dimitri flashes a wicked smile that I catch sight of through a screen. "Oh, my dear, haven't you been informed?" He asks quizzically, arching one eyebrow. "They've already begun."

How did he hear me?

He is gone, and the screen goes blurry again. I'm sure he is following my voice.

For minutes on end, he doesn't take any wrong turns through the hallways.

He soon gets to the part where the room is circular with a hallway on every inch of the walls.

"Hmm…." He murmurs. "If only she would speak again."

I freeze, keeping my breathing slow and incredibly quiet.

I see his body go rigid, his quirky smile gone. I hold my breath.

"Holding your breath won't work, dear. Your heart is beating like a helicopter." His smile returns again.

I let out my breath with a loud whoosh. How did he hear my heart beat?

He laughs through the monitor and spins on his leather boots towards the correct hall. "I _am_ getting closer."

Adrenaline rushes through my body as I reach a realization. He could actually find me. He would find me.

I stand up quietly and search around the monitor room. I pace around the perimeter quietly, trying to find a place to hide.

A loose floorboard sends me flying through the ground. I scream as I plunge into the darkness.

Her scream sent me into a running frenzy. Blood pumped through my ears as my legs worked frantically to get to her. Ghandi, I didn't even know her name, and she was the hybrid I was after, but, damn, her distress sent me over the edge.

Crashing had followed her scream, and, although only seconds after, the majority of the noise had ceased, leaving me only with the patter of remnant crumbling to follow. It was enough.

I force myself into a dead stop when I enter a room that is completely life compatible. To the right, a little kitchen bar curved around an actual mini-kitchen, loaded with a microwave, dishwasher, and fridge that I was positive was stocked. To the left, a flat screen television adorned the wall, headsets resting over the lip of a fabric couch. On the far wall, two doors sandwiched a small painting of our mansion-their old home.

Intending to grab something from the fridge, I stop midway in my tracks when a sigh from inside the right door tells me the hybrid is in there. Completely forgetting all other plans, I crush the locked door in my hand and enter to find an empty bedroom.

There was a bathroom to the left, a large bed towards the right, and a walk-in closet on the wall opposite me. After quickly checking the bed and bathroom, I approach the closet door as a grumble of profanities beckons through the closet. Was she in here?

She couldn't have been, unless the closet was large enough to echo her voice repeatedly. But I was following the right path. That was enough, wasn't it?

I tumbled through the darkness as I waited desperately for a surface to come. It seemed like hours, but I'm pretty sure it was only seconds before I hit a padded floor with a low thud.

When I realized that I had hit the ground, I stopped screaming. A migraine was forming in my skull as blood throbbed through it.

Grumbling a mouthful of profanities, I examine myself quickly, looking for lacerations of any sort. When I've given myself a clean bill of health (save a few newly forming bruises on my back), I push myself up on wobbly legs, trying to regain control over my vision from the invasion of black splotches.

When I am sturdy on my legs, and vision is back, I spin around the room slowly, looking at my surroundings.

I could tell the walls were intended to be white, but age had dimmed them into a dull, dirty grey pallor. Wispy cobwebs swung lethargically in the corners.

Across from me stood an old wooden door, ebbing cracks slowly taking over the exterior it. It certainly wasn't inviting, but unless I wanted to pull down the stairs which swung down from the ceiling and led me back to where I was, the door was my only option.

Turning the rusty handle, I feel a tingling sensation on my hands. It takes me a second to register the sensation is cold. The handle was so cold!

I felt around the walls until I came in contact with a light switch, which I abruptly turned on. Turning around, I freeze.

Row after row of crimson red liquid cased in ceiling to floor tubes, about a foot wide, faced me. They looked like monster test tubes. Small latches at the bottoms of the tubes were the only accessible way into the containers. Walking my numb legs over to one, I slowly opened the latch to find a valve. Quickly, I stuck my finger through it and pulled it back out, getting the liquid on my pinkie finger. Closing the latch, I sniff the liquid. It smelled familiar; like a coppery tang that I most definitely knew. I couldn't place it.

Standing up and wiping the liquid onto my shorts, I slowly close the wooden door; this was as good a place as ever to hide, right? I notice a chart that had been hidden by the open door before. It graphed the whole room, which was actually pretty large. Letters and symbols were marked on each row of the map. The tube I had stuck my finger in was one of the tubes labeled "A –".

It only took a second to realize what the symbols meant. Looking down at my shorts, I squealed in disgust.

"This is so fucked up. Hell, what is that? Crazy-ass lunatics…" A loud roar of laughter stopped me mid-rant. It was most definitely Dimitri's voice. "Dammit," I mutter. Somehow he had heard me…again. His laugh went on for what seemed like ever, and every second that passed made me angrier. Finally, I burst, not caring for a moment that he would hear me.

"Screw you!" I scream. His laughter dies off slowly in response. I smirk, glad to have shut him up.

Deciding that leaving the light on in here wasn't the best idea, I flicked them off and grappled my way through the tanks until I found a nice little space I could sit in. Nestling in, I lay my head against one of the tanks and sigh as blood rushes through my ears and a headache seeps into my head. I suppress a groan, forgetting, once again, that they would hear that.

I chew on my thumbnail, biting through the soft tissue slowly as if to take away the pain of the headache. Shivers run up and down my spine, like small mice skittering excitedly along my spine. Goosebumps covered my arms and legs; it was like an arctic wasteland in here.

I close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing.

_In, out. In, out. In, out. Calm down, Mia. Just calm. _

In my mind's eye, I picture Dimitri.

His pure black hair, soft as silk yet sharp and gleaming as a midnight raven's wing. It fell in short soft waves of sheer black, falling in front of his deep onyx eyes.

His cheekbones were high, but not high enough for a girl's. High enough to give him a pale masquerading look. His thin, plum pearled lips smirked, tightening into a thin line. His ivory skin contrasted with his dark stature. His lean, muscular figure was one of a wild cat; a jaguar. Slinking through the forest ever so quietly, to tease his prey, a natural beauty emanating from him before he strikes.

"_Beautiful Tyrant! Fiend Angelica!_

_Dove-feather'd raven! Wolfish-ravening lamb!_

_Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st." _

Lines from "Romeo and Juliet" appeared in my mind. It was almost as if Shakespeare was talking about Dimitri.

Another wave of pain crashed across my mind, and I curled my knees to my chest while rocking back and forth, biting my lip to keep back a scream.

What seemed to be hours later, my headache was still raging on to the beat of my heart.

At one point, when the headache decided to stay dormant, realization hit me. He was getting closer.

At this, my heart sped up as adrenaline rushed through my veins, only bringing on the headache once again.

It could have been minutes or hours later, but I hear the old wooden door swing open.

"I'm here, princess." Triumph courses thickly through his voice.

I stifle a moan; the headache just got worse and worse.

Huddling up in my corner, I squeeze my eyes shut tightly, hoping I can make myself invisible from him. I straighten my back against the blood tank, trying to curl up into a miniscule ball.

"Why is your heart pounding so frantically?" Dimitri asks to the dank air around him, directing the question towards me. I shake my head, burying my face in my hands so I can't scream in pain from the migrane that is forming.

I hear a clang against a glass tube only feet away from me. I assumed it was his fist colliding with it. I peek out around a tank to see him, standing stoic in between two rows of tubes.

My head collides with another tube as I pull it back quickly. A hollow dong thrums through the room, as I groan loudly and clutch my head. I can feel a goose-egg starting to form. His footsteps lightly become louder. I peak slightly through the veil of my hair that falls around my face. I see long, black clothed legs walk smoothly by me, then stop.

He is down crouching by me, staring at me through my peep-hole in my hair. His dark onyx eyes find mine.

"Found you."


	5. Chapter Four :Chimney Decisions:

_**Welcome to Chapter 4! Sorry for my horrible updating habits and whatnot, but Nationals is so very soon! School starts a bit later than normal schools, so don't worry about that yet : ) Anyways, I truly want to thank you for reading this story. Sometimes I get bored with it and just wonder what I'm doing, but then I go back and read your comments and reviews and critiques and it just really does make me happy. **_

_** To those of you who are not happy with my decision to re-do this story. You don't actually HAVE to read it. I don't expect you to read it again, I HOPE for you to. So, sorry you're upset about that. I didn't like the format of the old version. I will NOT put a piece of work out to the public that I am not satisfied with. That was my mistake in my last version of this story. So either read or don't. : ) **_

_**For those of you who are happy with the revised version so far…thank you! It means so much and I just don't know how to thank you enough! It's truly incredible that my thoughts can be shared with other people through the form of a story. Really hope you enjoy this chapter. **_

_**OH, and one last thing. Review! **_

_*****Ace*****_

_Chapter Four_

_**~Mia~**_

He continued staring down at me through slit eyes, a wide grin playing his lips. "I guess I get to go home now." He says, mostly to himself. I shake my head, more to try to get rid of the pain of my raging migraine than anything. Through the ringing in my ears, I realize he has an accent. A mix of something English and Russian, which confuses me; those two places are vastly different and rather far apart.

Faster than my mind or body could process, I was slung over a broad shoulder potato sack style. Sheer rage coursed through me, overpowering my migraine for a moment. How dare he?

Flinging my fists into his back, I lift my head up and scream into his left ear. He jumps, and I take the opportunity to kick him where it counted.

"Fu-" His swear is cut off by my scream, once again in his ear.

"Let me go!" I shout before screaming a high-pitched, blood-curling scream that actually causes him to drop me. I was pretty impressed with myself.

Staggering to my feet, I run out of the tube room, slamming the old wooden door behind me and pushing a chair up underneath the handle. It wouldn't stop him long, but it was worth a shot.

Pulling down the stairs from the ceiling, I took them two at a time before swinging them back up into their hatch just as a loud crash sounded, splintering the old wooden door below me.

I had just started running out of my current room when arms encircled my waist and my legs, carrying me like a plank. How had he gotten up so fast?

"Conniving little bitch." He spits into my ear.

"Delirious fat ass." I chuck at him, a little less confidently than I had intended.

He stops and looks me straight in the eye, a wicked, suggestive glint in his tone. "My ass is actually rather attractive, or so I've been told."

"You were misinformed." I hiss. He rolls his eyes before scooping me back up into his arms and taking off at a speed I didn't know existed. It was too quick; I felt nauseated as my vision left me and I thunked against his back, the last feeling I had identifying itself as pain through my nasal cavity.

_**~Charlotte~**_

I stop in my tracks.

_Found you. _

The words ring through my head, like wind chimes violently struggling against the blowing wind.

His sneering voice tangles itself into my brain. _Found you. _

_Found you. _

Her intake of breath. The acceleration of her breathing.

Time stopped for moments after this.

My brain didn't receive images, or sounds, or anything. My eyes crusted over into a smoky black. I paused mid-stride. My unnecessary breathing stopped. My fingers curled around thick, heavy air. My feet were planted on the ground, like dried cement bricks molding into the dark red carpet.

He had found her.

I tried to make my brain connect the dark, malicious event that had just occurred.

He had found her. Dimitri was he.

Mariella was her.

Dimitri had found Mariella.

Time sped up. I felt like I was bordering on the speed of light.

My vision flicked back on, my breathing came quickly, my fingers flexed, and my feet turned into spheres of light, traveling speedily down the hall.

He had gotten to her first.

But he wouldn't get through me. I wouldn't let him.

I speed down the halls, racing quickly. I had to get to Mia.

Three miniscule minutes later, I was hiding in a crevice along the hallway Dimitri was quickly approaching.

I tense my muscles as the air behind me stirs, alerting his definite presence. He would be passing by in less than a second.

I waited eagerly.

The air swirls as I appear in his course. He barrels into me at full speed. Ignoring the pain radiating in my chest, I stick to the plan.

Punch in the gut, Kick him quickly. I do this over a span of a half-second before prying Mariella out of his grasp. I cradle her in my arms and take off. Hopefully he would be stunned for a while.

I run through the nearest door and look around. A fireplace! I scramble up the chimney, climbing with my legs while holding an unconscious Mia.

A moment later, I hear Dimitri's footsteps. "Where is she?" He growls.

I stop breathing and push down hard on Mia's chest as to cover up her heartbeat. She tries to choke over lack of air for a moment, but I clasp her mouth with my hand.

"Damn it! Where did you take her!" Dimitri snarls.

Fear tears through my stomach. I grip Mia tighter to me, hearing a large crash seep through the wall in front of me and immediately knowing from the sound that it was Dimitri's fist. I hear parts of the wall crumbling away as an after-effect. He had punched a hole through the wall, which was not surprising. Our race was strong. But he, being royalty, had more strength, speed, power and lust than the rest of our kind.

My legs are rod straight against the bricks of the chimney as my back is plastered against the wall. Mia lies in my lap, and I have to keep her legs from swinging down into the light below. Basically, I had rooted myself inside the bottom of the chimney. If I fell, I would fall onto logs, revealing both me and Mia.

Hopefully he'll conclude that she wasn't in here. He obviously knew that I had run into him, but he didn't know me. I had an advantage.

His next words leave my hope shattered into millions of shards.

"I know you're in here, and I won't rest until I find you."

_**~Dimitri~**_

The idea came to me in a sudden burst of brilliance, like Einstein's light bulb.

Well, not exactly like that.

The faintest hint of a snore led me towards the chimney. I felt idiotic for not checking there, of all places. Hurdling over a monument of logs, I gripped the interior of the brick walled chimney. It was grimy, filth fit for a sewer. I guffawed in disgust before leaping up the vertical tunnel.

A flash in my peripheral vision alerted me that people were indeed in the chimney. I looked up to see two figures fleeing upwards, where metal vents were acting as their safe haven. I pushed off of two adjacent walls with my hands to grab an ankle, pulling both down. Both female. Yanking down hard on one ankle, I cradled the hybrid in my arms. Above her was a female vampire with long dark brown hair, wide eyes that looked down at me with a frightened distastefulness. I grinned, urging her to do something about it, knowing that I had won.

The brunette stared at me for a moment in utter horror before turning tail and fleeing, once again, up towards the vents and disappearing into one of them, no trace save her scent left of her. I wondered who she was. Obviously not the hybrid's mother; I knew _her_ and her husband's faces.

Falling down and exiting the chimney, I step over the logs once again to find that I am peppered with charred ashes. Giuseppe had made his way downstairs, and I stood face to face with my father. We stand there uncomfortably for a few moments as he looked over me and the girl.

"Let's go, father," I say, ending the silence. "I'm thirsty, and they don't have the best…merchandise here."

"Just take a sip out of her. It won't hurt." Father replies casually.

I mentally squirm. There was no way I was feeding from her when I could barely resist her right here. If I even went too close, I would probably drain her. I wasn't even sure how I managed not to drink from her earlier, just inject venom into her bloodstream.

But a sip wouldn't hurt…

I shake my head. "I can't. Not right now. I would rather have some of the vintage we have at home."

Giuseppe stares at me peculiarly. "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing. I would just prefer mortal blood, at the moment."

Giuseppe shrugs his shoulders before turning on his heel, beckoning the guards to form around us with a flick of his wrist. "Suit yourself."

I sigh as we fall into a running group, and in a matter of seconds, we are out of the house and in the limousine strategically parked a block away from her house so the security cameras only picked up the guard's black sedan. I lean back against the cushioned leather after laying the girl down along two of the seats.

"It wasn't too hard, now was it?" Giuseppe asks in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose. "It wasn't how I would have liked to spend my afternoon."

"You don't get what you want just because you're royalty, Dimitri." Giuseppe tries at a scolding; it turned out to be more of a "preparing you for the throne" type of thing.

"Obviously, Father." I say.

He continues on to say something else, but I drone out his sharp tone and gaze at the girl lying peacefully on the two cushioned seats next to me. However, his voice came back into focus when he talked about her.

"…When the time comes for the collective decision to be made on whether she lives immortally or not, you do need to know one thing."

"Her blood, since she is a hybrid, could potentially transform me into a long-haired mule?" I muse.

Giuseppe continues without noting my comment. "Since she is a hybrid, we don't know how much of her blood you need to drain exactly. So the standard 75 percent will not suffice this time."

I stare at my Father as he finishes his sentence. "How the hell are we supposed to know how much to drain her of, then?" I ask him, wild tension clouding my tone.

"The myths have said to make a hybrid full-blooded, you must drain somewhere between 90 to 94 percent. If the drainage falls out of that range, she will die or not transform."

Unblinkingly, I looked away from Giuseppe to gaze down at the sleeping girl. No more than a child, really. I mean, physically, we were about the same age, but I had seen so much more than she had in my nineteen years. Humans were sheltered, helpless, stuck in adolescence. I had seen murder by the time I was four.

"Do you understand, Dimitri?" Giuseppe's tone had lost some of it's harshness as he stared at me with unwavering eyes. I nod my head affirmatively, mustering up strength. It was hard enough to turn an average human into a vampire and guess how much of their blood to take. With her, I had a four percent chance of success.

Hopefully, the collective decision would be to kill her.

_**~Mia~**_

I had expected to wake up to the purple bedroom I had been residing in for the past few days. Instead, I woke up to a black room. Where _everything_ was black. The silk bed sheets neatly folded atop me were black, woven in patterns that crisscrossed in and out of each other. Sitting up, I saw that the bedposts on all four corners were wood painted a sleek black.

Rubbing my eyes warily, I looked around the room, too exhausted to do more than sit up. On the left of the southern wall were black-blue curtains covering a sliding glass door. On the west wall was a closet, (silver, thank the painters) knobs the only color besides the neutral black. Past them was a dark wooden door. On the north wall, another door was placed, and looking through the crack that angled towards me, I saw it was a bathroom. Even in there, the tiling was black. A black bed side table to my right made up the whole room. It would have looked nearly naked if the walls weren't as black as they were.

Where was I? The memories flooded my mind like a tsunami once I thought about it. After the purple room, I had run through my closet into another wing, hidden in a room full of ceiling-to-floor tanks of blood, acquired a major migraine, escaped Dimitri, been caught again…and then what? And now….I was where?

I groan and high five myself in the face, only to shriek. My nose was in agonizing pain, and I took my hand away, gingerly fingering it. I had probably broken my nose.

I tucked myself under the covers in misery, only to be shaken.

"What the hell?" I scream, flipping up the covers. I stare up into Dimitri's face. A wide smirk falls on his lips. I growl.

"So, sleeping beauty awakes! Ah, what a shame. I was having fun talking to you in your sleep."

"Go to hell," I muffle through a pillow. He chuckles.

"I'm already there, princess. Now get up. You're to meet with my father. Jade and Alea will help you get dressed."

"What did you do to my nose?" I accuse.

He full-out guffaws. "It's more like what you did, dear princess. Slamming your head into my torso wasn't the most intellectual move." I groan at his words. "We already set it back into place. Don't touch it too much, or we'll have to do it again, and this time, you'll be conscious." He grins lopsidedly at me.

"Ugh!" I groan and throw a pillow at him.

"Don't make me lose my temper," He warns, catching the pillow.

I stare up at him once again. "Who are Jade and Alea?" I ask cautiously.

Dimitri laughs. "They're your clothing maids, of course. They will choose your outfits, do your hair, your make-up, you know. Get you ready for formal events…."

I cut him off. "Wait. Formal events? Maids? What are you taking me to? I'm a prisoner, aren't I?"

Dimitri grins. "In a way. But you are also a guest until we have come to a conclusion."

"And what exactly are my options?" I say defiantly.

He grins wider. "We will talk after you meet with my father."

I glare at him. "Fine. But you explain everything then. Every. Little. Thing. Got it?"

He sticks his face inches away from mine. "I call the shots, princess. Not you."

I inch closer, our foreheads almost touching. "I'm calling one right now. When I'm done meeting with your father, you explain everything. Everything. Got it, hotshot?"

Dimitri stares at me hard for what seems like an eternity before backing away and bursting into laughter. "We'll see," is all he says.

I'm about to snap back at him, but two bubbly girls come bouncing into the room. Dimitri's forehead crumples as his eyes lose their humor.

"Meet Jade and Alea. They are your clothing maids."

They bounce up towards the bed, hopping on the balls of their feet. "Hiya!" They say in unison. I burst into giggles. They were so…bubbly. And, eyeing Dimitri, I saw his look of distaste. I could get along with them well.

"Hey," I say, a smile taking over my lips.

I look over them. They were twins, same height, same hair color, same face shape, same noses, same voices, same small bodies. The only thing that defined them from each other were their eyes.

Jade had a vibrant green shade of eyes while Alea's were a striking blue. How odd; how does the whole twin thing work, anyways?

Their blonde hair bounced down their small figures to the small of their backs. They were fairly small, probably around 5"2. I was taller than them by a good three inches. They both had tiny, nimble hands that were always moving.

"Let's get you ready!" Alea squeals and hops over towards the closet on the west wall.

Dimitri groans. "I will wait outside. Find me when you are ready, and I will escort you to Giuseppe's quarters."

I ignore him, no longer interested. He sighs and walks out of the room as I focus in on the twins.

Jade turns to me with a scarlet dress. "What do you think? Should we save this for the first gathering, Lea?"

Alea turns around, eyeing the dress. "Yeah, don't use it right now. Grab her that black long-sleeved dress. We can just grab the corset and squeeze it in to make a good outfit."

Jade nods. "Okay."

I freeze at the word 'corset.' I had never worn one, but they had always frightened me.

Jade waves her hands frantically. "Get up! We can chit-chat later. If we are late, master will scold us. And I cannot afford to laugh again."

Alea laughs. "He got soo mad when you did that. Remember, you lost dinner that night?"

Jade chimes in with Alea, laughing. "Yeah. I stole some of your food."

They banter over memories as I stand up, stretching my sore legs.

Ten minutes later, I was dressed in a long-sleeved black dress that went down to my knees. A corset was hugging my stomach tightly, but it didn't hurt. I just had to suck in a little.

My auburn hair was layered into a high braid on the back of my head. Mascara covered my lashes and a smudge of eyeliner was below my lids.

"Go now, go on!" Jade pushes me out the door as I trip on the black, strappy heels that I had been given.

I stumble through the door and fall into Dimitri's chest, where he catches me by my armpits.

Oh, how embarrassing.

He grins down at me. "You're that anxious to get close to me? Jeez, just ask next time."

I growl.

I stand up abruptly and smooth out my dress. Dimitri grabs my hand and drags me down the hall at a pace that has me tripping over my own feet.

"Slow down," I gasp.

"Then we would be going slower than a human." He huffs.

"I am a human," I growl.

"Sort of."

After five minutes of stumbling through elaborate halls, we come face to face with two large double doors.

Of course, they were black. They stood about 15 feet tall with silver doorknobs. Small beaded designs flew over the door, giving it the appearance of a dire room.

Dimitri opened the left door, sweeping me in with his other arm.

I stumble in, trying to stand on my feet. Dimitri follows after me, gripping my upper arms and stabilizing me. I shoot a glare at him.

"Dear, how nice to see you're awake." A voice drawls. I can hear the rough scratch in it that indicated it was older, yet I could hear a smooth authority in it too. It was low and masculine.

I look up to see a middle-aged man sitting proudly on a high-backed black chair. The arm rests were made of a deep crimson mahogany.

The man had dark hair that was thinning and turning to a ghostly gray. He was slightly over-weight, but he held his head high and squared his shoulders. It was simple to see that he was Dimitri's father; also the ruler of the so called vampires.

I hold my ground when Dimitri's fist lodges into my shoulder blades, willing me to courtesy. I hold back a whimper from the pressure.

"How has your stay been?" Giuseppe asks casually, as if we had known each other for a long time.

"For the time I have been awake?" I feign a thoughtful look. "Horrific."

Dimitri digs his fingers into the small of my back. I purse my lips.

Giuseppe's face falls. "Oh, I am sorry to hear that. Hopefully it will get better in the following weeks."

Wait. I was staying here for weeks?

"First of all, darling, you can call me by my name. Which is Giuseppe. However, I would like to call you by your official name, if that's alright. Calling you dear all the time will get a bit loathsome."

I wasn't going to say anything, but a pressure point on my neck was painfully being pressed, so I coughed out "Mariella" against my will.

Giuseppe's face curls into a seemingly sincere face of happiness, like he finally got an answer out of me. "What a beautiful name for such an elegant girl," he croons, standing up and striding over to engulf me in a hug. "I truly hope you will find your stay here pleasing, whether finite or infinite."

He releases me, leaving several questions whirling through my mind. "What do you mean?" I ask against my better judgment. Giuseppe cocks his head to one side, as if studying me sideways will make me understand.

"Mariella, dear, would you like me to explain the conditions undergoing these circumstances or would you like my son to explain?" Was he actually giving me an option?

"I mean, as long as they're explained," I stutter in bewilderment. Giuseppe chuckles and sweeps both me and Dimitri into the high-backed chairs surrounding a table that I hadn't noticed was there earlier. Giuseppe sat himself across from me, so I was facing both him and Dimitri. It was like facing a counsel.

"You understand the background of our two families, yes?" He begins, interlacing his fingers atop the table. I nod.

"The fictional vampiric legends and whatnot? Yeah, I was informed." Dimitri rolls his eyes at my words.

Giuseppe, on the other hand, bursts out with gusto in his laughter. Wiping at his eyes as he settles, he says "No 'vampiric legend,' my dear. Dimitri, it seems we have a comedian as a guest."

"Brilliant," He murmurs uninterestedly, examining his fingers. Giuseppe returns his gaze back to me, looking at me with newfound interest.

"It seems there will be no end to how you surprise us, Mariella. So much like your mother indeed." I stiffen at his words, but force myself to relax. He didn't need to know how scared I was becoming.

The realization of my situation was slowly sinking in, and I came to realize that whatever was about to be explained to me was going to make my situation seem that much more surreal. I was kidnapped, nonetheless by a cult of people who actually believed they were vampires! Holy freaking shit!

Giuseppe's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "-so you must know how rare you are. In fact, your kind was forgotten over the last centuries, and when we heard about a reappearance of, well, _you, _I am not ashamed to say we were all a bit shell-shocked."

"What do you mean, '_my kind?_''" I ask him.

"A hybrid, of course. Surely some of this must have been explained to you, how rare you are." I don't let on about how Charlotte had told me the story about the two businessmen who had roamed old towns, selling their miracle remedy. Giuseppe proceeds to immediately bring that up. "I assume you have heard the story of James and Giuseppe, so I will not tell it again. However, you surely must have connected the dots."

"You're trying to tell me you are Giuseppe of France, from the story." I say, already guessing his plan.

He nods. "In the flesh. That was the end…and the beginning of my two lives."

I shake my head. "You can't be him. No one can live that long." Giuseppe's eyes crinkle in a laughing manor.

"No _human _can live that long. I, my dear, am not human." I scoff at his words, but he chooses to ignore my unspoken remark and continue. "My dear, you are certainly a fascinating conundrum to our highly structured world. Wouldn't you agree, Dimitri?"

Dimitri continues to examine something that must have been earth-shatteringly interesting towards the table, because he doesn't look up, but offers a mumbled "Oh, most definitely." I roll my eyes.

"How do I explain this accurately?" Giuseppe ponders, tapping his bearded chin with two fingers. "You are a curve ball, Mariella. Something that throws everything in the orbit off balance and out of alignment. Like the planets, yes?" He seemed pleased with his analogies. "We cannot have you upsetting the whole orbit of our little universe, though."

"Glad to know I have such an impact on an entire universe," I murmur sarcastically. Giuseppe's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline.

"No no, my dear! I did not mean to upset you! Heavens no! All I mean to say is you are a circumstance that we, as a race, had not expected. And we are more than pleased to offer you a decision, _which," _He added on daftly, "Is something we do not lightly do. When we take guests-" _Guests? _I thought to myself. _I assume that means 'prisoners.'_ "-we decide whether they will become immortal and join our world, or…"

"Serve as your next meal?" I offer bitterly. To my surprise, Giuseppe bursts out in laughter.

"Dimitri, do you hear her? What a stellar thing to say!" He swats tears of laughter away with big bear hands. "In lack of a better phrase, yes, I suppose you could say that."

I was thoroughly disgusted, but Giuseppe didn't seem to notice. Sighing as he straightened himself up and recovering from his laughing fit, he twirled a chunk of slated bronze around his finger, which I realized to be a ring. "You, though, Mariella, are an exception." He gazed at me intently, as if he could dissect me with his eyes. "Something I have rarely ever heard of, and definitely never seen. You hold so much power in that fragile little frame of yours…" He trailed off, his eyes scraping over my body in what was not a hungry way, but somehow something even more disturbing that I couldn't exactly place...Insatiable intrigue?

He shook his head. "But I will not allow anyone save you to make the decision."

"What decision?" I ask hoarsely. My voice had been lost somewhere during his speech.

Through his dark eyes, I could see his pupils widen. "Whether to become immortal, to join our world and bask in eternity, or die."

I stared at him, waiting for him to boom with laughter, clutch his sides and paw at his eyes, saying "Just a joke, my dear." But it never came.

In the following silence, I was mutely aware that Dimitri had gotten to his feet and was walking around the table to reach me. I didn't want him to touch me, but I couldn't move.

Faintly, I heard my voice being called. It sounded as if it was someone calling from a distance. "Mariella?" It was Giuseppe's low, rustic bass of a voice. I couldn't respond; arms picked me up.

"I'll take her to her room," I heard Dimitri sigh, like he was bored with the whole encounter.

My options were either to pretend to become a vampire and join their cult, or die, according to Giuseppe. Were they serious?


	6. Chapter Five :Tales Of A Maid:

_Whoa! I got a new chapter up! (Crazy, right?) Sorry for those of you who are in school. I've still got 4 more days They'll go by quickly. I want to reply to some of your reviews, because I think it's fun._

_Thedarknesshere: thanks! Sorry I didn't update sooner._

_Sunkissedangel: Thank you so much! It means tons that you all actually read my story. _

_Evangelinex17: I'm sorry I haven't updated recently. I really will try to get better. It stinks that I have so many great readers but just don't always have the time to write, so I have to write each chapter in little snippets, paragraph by paragraph. :/_

_(): First of all….()? : ) Anyways, thank you. I certainly feel like my writing has gotten more mature and polished, but I hope to continue to polish it even more and to refine it into an extensive, eloquent way of speech/writing. _

_Mandydoll: No, your reviews don't suck. It's just that whenever I write a review, it's stupendously long. Should I win an award for most obnoxiously long reviews? *Yes. : ) I love every review I get. _

_Purplehalo: UPDATED! _

_200thviewer(): I wouldn't even have noticed If you had not pointed it out to me. Thank you! I'll remember that. : ) _

_Night-queen23: Yes, yes Dimitri most definitely is that. Expect some very dynamic characters and personality shifts, though. Static bores me. _

_Sorry I can't do every review I get. I'll try to do this every time, though. :) I'm very glad everyone's enjoying this. And so sorry to those of you who find the re-write irritating. However, I have to please myself with my writing before coming to try and please ALL of you! And, no one said you HAVE to read it. I do appreciate it when you do, though… : D _

_ Have an awesome time reading this chapter! I like it, and hope you do too. _

_P.S. Review, as always, and expect more action later on. Pretty drab right now, yeah? _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Five_

_**~Mia~**_

When I was set back down on the bed I had woken up in, I found the strength to speak. "So what exactly are my options again?"

Dimitri sits himself in a chair across the room, sighing. "Ugh. I hate explaining everything."

I smirk. "Too bad. You're stuck explaining."

He glares at me. "You could be less obnoxious."

"You could be less of an ass." I shoot back. He growls.

"I could kill you this second," he growls through clenched teeth.

I throw my arms in the air. "Go ahead! I'd rather die than live in this hell hole."

In less than a second, I feel cold, long fingers wrap around my neck, threatening to cut off my air way. My reflexes tell me to claw at the hands, but I force myself to stay frozen.

I look up into Dimitri's face. Dark brown strands of hair brush his eyelashes.

"You regret saying that now, don't you?" He hisses, tightening his grip.

"No," I gasp.

His hands are off my throat at lightning speed, and next I know, Dimitri is leaning against the far wall, muttering swears under his breath.

"How…how did you…..g-get over there so fast?" I stammer, genuinely confused.

Dimitri rolls his eyes. "Vampire speed."

I scoff. His eyes lock on me. "What?" He growls.

"When will you all stop this stupid damn charade of 'oh, I'm a vampire' and 'oh, I get across the room so quickly because of vampire speed.' It's the most absurd thing I have ever heard in my life, and you all are just making fools of yourselves! I'm sick of this whole damn thing and I don't understand why you kidnapped me because I am not a damn vampire, I am a damn human, and you should damn well let me go!" I scream the last part. I wasn't sure how many times I used the word 'damn' in that statement, but I didn't bother to count.

"Stop with the attitude!" Dimitri yells furiously back at me, his accent thickly cloaking his words.

"You're telling me to stop 'with the attitude?'" I scream back at him. "You're the one that believes he's a fucking vampire! You're such a hot-head, you know that? And yet you say that _I'm _the one with the attitude issues!"

Dimitri is by me quickly. I don't even see him move, but I soon shiver from his breath tickling my ear.

"Watch yourself, princess, because I won't always be so lenient. Next time this happens, you're gone."

"I'd love to be anywhere but here," I hiss back.

He growls and is out of the room, the black door slamming behind him, leaving the room quaking and trembling from the remnants of his fury.

I groan and fall back onto the pillows. How was I going to get my questions answered now?

I was staring at the ceiling when I heard the lock on the door move. Sitting up, I looked to see a girl walk in.

She was human, which left my spirits soaring. Well, compared to what they were.

Her raven black hair was sleek and straight, falling down to the small of her back. It was verging on a dark, shimmering violet when it caught the light. Her part was slightly angled towards the right side so her wispy bangs could unfurl down her forehead to brush her angular cheekbone. She was shorter than me, but only by an inch or so.

Her build was amazingly thin and slender, and her chest was fairly small.

She walked over to me lithely, yet not as gracefully as a vampire.

"Who are you?" I ask cautiously.

I hadn't meant the words to come out so harsh. I had meant to ask something like 'hi, what's your name?' not a distinct undercover of 'who the hell are you.'

The girl smiles. "Violet. Your overall maid."

I'm about to speak, but the twins come bounding in, arm in arm.

"Remember us?" Alea bubbles.

I laugh. "How could I forget?"

I turn back to Violet. "So, what exactly is an overall maid for?" I wonder aloud.

"Well, for many things. We review the bed, the clothes, we can fiddle with your hair, and basically, I'll just be here a lot invading your personal space." She smiles wickedly.

I smile back. I could tell we were going to get along.

As the twins squealed, Violet walked towards me. "Mind if I sit?" She asks, cocking her head towards the bed. I shake my head, and she sits down gracefully. "So, I didn't really catch your name. Dimitri is an ass, so he just kind of planted me here."

I can't help but smile at Violet's words. If she thought he was an ass too, then I could definitely like her.

"Mia." I tell her warmly.

"Mia," Violet repeats, testing the name. "How nice to meet you. Now, since I suppose Dimitri is probably trumping around his room, would you like me to stay here for a while?"

I shrug. "If you have nothing else to do…I guess I need some answers."

The twins bounded over to the bed, jumping down and sitting together. Luckily, this was a king sized bed, so we could all fit with room.

"You haven't been told anything yet?" Alea squealed, gasping.

"Well, I mean, I know the basics of this fiasco. I don't understand my…options, though. Do I just fake a death?"

"Oh boy," Violet breathes. "Well, you're in for a lot. Let's start from the beginning."

"Okay." I say cautiously, suspecting more folklore.

Jade starts to speak, but Violet cuts her off. "Let me start. Then you can jump in." They nod their heads before returning their gazes back to me.

"Before you start," I say to her, "Vampires aren't real. The people here are crazy, and I certainly hope you're not one of the lunatics."

Violet stares at me wildly. "What the _hell _are you saying, Mia?" She asks frantically.

I sigh. "Vampires don't exist."

Violet stares at me with a wild, frantic look in her eyes. We stay like that for what seems like forever.

When she speaks, her voice is worried. "Mia, uhm….I'm not sure how I'm going to explain this to you if you can't believe me."

I groan. "So you do believe in the vampires. Ugh! I thought I had met _someone_ sensible here!"

Violet's eyes turn sad. "I'm sorry, Mia."

I put my head in my hands. "Just…just go." I say through my fingers.

"Wh-what?" Violet says, stammering.

"Leave. Now." I say, not looking up.

"But we can't go now!" Jade trills. "We have to tell you everything!"

I lift my head to look at her. "Why am I here? I don't believe in this crap. Why couldn't I have been kidnapped by _normal _people!"

"Normal people don't kidnap other people." Alea chimes happily. I shoot her a glare.

I feel a small hand on my knee. "I'm sorry, Mia. Just please, let us explain." Violet pleads.

Huffing, I reluctantly agree. "But you leave when you're finished."

Violet's eyes fill with sadness. "Maybe once you hear the story, you'll change your mind."

I scoff quietly. Doubt it.

"Vampires have been around for a long time. Not as long as humans, because they are like a mutation of humans, in a way. So, they survived through the centuries, all that shit…whatever." Violet's introduction made me want to laugh. I held a straight face.

"Vampires are undying, however. And, once a vampire, always a vampire. There's no changing back. So, anyways, they came through centuries and blah blah blah…" Violet says, waving her hand in a circle. "You don't need to know the whole routine. But what you do need to know is that vampires are undying. And….once a vampire, always a vampire. You can't turn back into a human. Are you following?"

I nod.

"Have you been informed about the basic genetics of vampirism yet?" She asks me. I stare at her blankly for a moment. She sighs.

"When two vampires decide to have a child, there are three outcomes of that child's species. The first one would be a full-blooded vampire. The second one would be a full human. In this case, the parents have the decision to either keep their child in the dark and stay a human, or tell the child of vampires and then immediately change them. Humans-besides us working ones-are not allowed to know of vampire existence."

This was starting to sound familiar. Hadn't Charlotte explained this to me…?

"Then, the third, of course, would be you. A hybrid. Fifty-fifty. However, this occurs so rarely that there has been no rule that has survived the generations about how to deal with you. No one knew about your existence until recently, and, once they found out, they wanted you changed right away. You're the one that brought chaos to their highly structured world.

"So, the royal head (That would be Giuseppe's family) made a cumulative decision to take you under their care and let you decide for yourself your fate. Two options, Mia. I'll explain both of them."

Violet paused and looked at me curiously. Alea and Jade stopped fidgeting and fixed their gazes on Violet, avoiding my eyes.

"Well?" I ask. "Can I just go home?"

Violet looks down at her hands, rubbing her palms together before glancing over at the Twins. "You two want to take this one?"

Alea shakes her head while Jade answers "No way. You're not sticking us with this one." Violet sighs and returns her gaze back to her hands.

"You have two decisions, Mia. Your first decision would be to join our world. Become a full vampire. You're already halfway there."

"Yeah, I've been told that. I want to know what each of my options entails." I complain.

"Becoming a vampire is a different experience for everyone, depending on who changes you. If you are changed by some scum off-the-street vampire who has little power and not such a great ability, you won't be that powerful and won't have a great ability. However, if you are changed by royalty, you will be extremely powerful and be part of the elite group, I guess you could say."

"So, if I became a 'vampire…'" I start.

"You would be changed by one of the royal family, either Zair, Giuseppe, Dimitri, or Jer." Seeing the blank look on my face, she explains "Zair is Giuseppe's wife and Jer is Dimitri's brother." I nod in understanding.

"Mia, I'm telling you this now. Already you are famous in this world after your existence has only been known for a few months. If you became a vampire, you would be one of the most revered vampires. You would be part of the royal family, whether you accepted it or not. As powerful, socially speaking, as Giuseppe or Dimitri." That brings a smile to my lips. Popular in high school was nothing; now I was the topic in a world of lunatics.

Wait. On second thought…

"We have no idea how powerful you'd be, though. We haven't encountered a hybrid for who knows how long. The records of your kind have been virtually lost outside of myths and folklore."

"So I was basically legend?" I ask quietly.

Jade and Alea burst out laughing simultaneously, screeching "yup!"

"I would have an ability, then?" I ask.

"Every vampire has an ability." Alea says. "It's about how useful and unique your ability actually is." Jade finishes for her. They smile at each other.

"Hm." I mutter. Tempting….sort of. I couldn't forget that it was a world of crazies. "And that second option really doesn't have much of an explanation, does it?" I murmur, more to myself than anyone.

That instantly killed the frivolous mood. Violet blinked as the Twin's smiles faded away. "How would I be disposed of?" I asked bitterly.

"Mia-" Violet starts.

"No. I have a right to know." I tell her earnestly, holding back fat teardrops which had quickly pricked my eyes.`.

"I don't know," Violet said quietly. "That is up to Dimitri. He is your charge for the time you stay." Examining my confused face, Violet said "The vampire in charge of you. Every time they have a guest, not only are maids given to them, but they also have a vampire who heads over them. Being under Dimitri's charge kind of blows, honestly. He's…unique."

"So what would Dimitri be likely to choose for my death?" I ask her tentatively. Violet sighs. "It depends on how you get along."

"Map it out for me," I press, managing to get Jade to roll her eyes in exasperation.

"If you don't get along well, he will most likely do something mildly painful and excruciatingly terrifying." I looked at Violet pointedly for elaboration. "For example, if you suffer from monophobia, he might turn you loose in the woods with no provisions. If you just moderate each other, he'll do something swift but definitely not a ceremonial thing. Break your neck or something quick like that." I was wondering how she could speak so openly about different murder approaches. I shuddered as she continued. "However, if the two of you get along, there's no telling what he will do."

"What do you mean?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Violet smiled sadly. "I mean that I can't say what he'll do. That path is a wild card with Dimitri."

Involuntary cold tingles ran through my body like electric shock waves. Alea and Jade tangle me up in their arms in what was supposed to be a hug. "You don't have to leave," I whisper to them quietly, all anger faced towards them gone. Jade pulls back with a huge grin on her face.

"If you choose to become a vampire,"

"Which don't exist, for the record." I hiss, interrupting her.

She continues as if I hadn't spoken. "You could stay with Alea and me forever! The masters might change us, and if you like us enough and you changed, you could change us!"

I smile at her words. She was crazy, but funny.

"Don't worry, Mia. You have time to decide." Violet tells me earnestly. I nod in thanks for her words.

"I know what'll cheer you up!" Alea bounces away from me happily. "How vampires die."

I smile. She always was cheery, and right now, that topic could help me. A lot.

"How?" I ask nonchalantly, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well," Alea says. "You can't stake them, they are fine in the sun, yada yada, you get the point. The only thing that kills them is fire."

"Hm." I say, trying to sound only mildly interested. I tucked this fact into a deep crevice of my mind for later, just in case it could help me get out of here.

I bet it would.

An hour or so later, Violet and the Twins left, realizing how tired I was when I actually fell asleep while they were talking. I cuddled up into the soft pillows and was quickly asleep.

_**~Mia~**_

A light tap on my shoulder sends me jumping out of my skin. I shoot out from the covers and pillows to look into an amused, handsome face that was illuminated by a silver sheen coming from the window. I identified it to be the moon; it was mid-night.

Only the Prince Of Darkness himself.

"What do you want?" I groan, glaring at him.

He smiles sweetly. "Well, my dear, we must talk about your…options. Explain everything to you, although I'm sure you already went over them with Violet."

I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. He was such an ass. "In the middle of the night?"

He lets out a large gust of breath. "Now, your options…"

I cut him off again. "Were my parents 'vampire royalty?' Violet said that whenever speaking to all of you, I had to 'be on board' with the whole vampire thing. So, I still consider you lunatics, but I guess 'vampire' is a substitute for it.

Dimitri growls. "Stop interrupting." He says through clenched teeth.

"Well?" I say. "Were they your type of royalty?"

Dimitri rolls his eyes. "They were not royalty, but they were high-class. Invited to all of my father's parties and gatherings. They were high up there."

"That's all I need to know." I say. "You can go now." I wave my hand towards the door.

Dimitri's mouth cracks into a grin. "You cannot order me to leave. I can do that to you, but you are powerless against me."

"I thought I was going to be treated like royalty," I say as anger roils through my body.

"You're not working, are you?" He says. "You have maids, don't you?"

"I don't care about the damn maids!" I seethe.

"Lower your voice. Now." Dimitri growls, a low sound that resonated from the back of his throat. His eyes turned to a deadly black as he walked towards me. The kind that would wash over the grim reaper's cloak as he saunters through the town, waiting for his next victim.

For all I knew, Dimitri was the grim reaper.

"Don't tell me when and when not to raise my voice." I say, louder.

Next thing I know, he is straddling me, one of his long legs on either side of me, pinning me to the bed. His hand is clamped down on my mouth as I struggle for control.

"Stupid human," He spits. "You know nothing, and you have no respect. If you cross the line, I will have you executed."

"I'd rather die than be in the position I am now," I mumble around his rock hard pearly hand.

His mouth is close to my ear as his breath sweeps viciously over my throat. "You will obey, or I _will _bite you. I'm not leaving this room until you know the rules."

I groan. "Fine," I mumble again.

"Behave." His whispering voice echoes in my ear as he gets off of me and removes his hand from my mouth. I sit up stubbornly and straighten my shirt.

Dimitri is pacing in front of me, his movements so fluid I could barely see the transitions of him turning.

"Get on with it," I say, avoiding his eyes as the shoot daggers at me.

"Fine."

I wait for him to begin. When he sees my eyes resting on him, he sighs and begins.

"You know that you are here to make a decision. You know that the supernatural exists, even if you choose to ignore the facts. You know your parents are vampires and that they lied to you. You're a crossbreed. So, you know the basics. Mainly, what I need to go over is the ties with your options."

"Ties?" I ask skeptically.

"What comes with them," he explains. I nod my head for him to continue.

"First, let's go over the stupid decision; dying. And no, not dying into one of us. Ending your life."

Honestly, this option sounded better than my other one, but I let him speak.

"There is nothing good to come of this option," Dimitri says as he stares into my eyes. I tremble slightly but refuse to drop my gaze. A faint smile plays at his lips.

"You die, you have no other life here, and it is a waste of your life."

I would argue, but it seemed that if I aggravated him much more, I would be a blood-less body.

"Now, towards the better option. Not much bad can come out of this. You have undying strength, eternal youth, agility, speed, and you have all of eternity to meet new people." He smirks at the last part. I'm sure he didn't just mean 'meet new people.'

"What about the blood?" I say cryptically. "I don't want to drink that shit."

Dimitri sighs. "It isn't bad once you are one of us. It smells good, and it tastes good. What seems utterly disgusting to you is merely pleasure for us."

I tilt my head, thinking about this. I was leaning more towards death.

"Oh," Dimitri says, shaking me out of my thoughts. "Also, if you did decide to change into one of us, I would change you." He didn't seem too pleased about this. Maybe I would choose the 'vampire' option just to annoy him.

"Would it make a difference if one certain 'vampire' changed me?" I ask, already knowing the answer from my earlier conversation with Violet.

Dimitri laughs low in his throat. "Oh yes. You see, if you were turned by just some rogue vampire or some low-class vampire, their venom courses through your body and gives you the strength and title they have. If I am to bite you, you will be on the same level of royalty as me. Since my venom is so very different from other vampires, because I'm royalty of course," he sticks on the end, smirking. I just roll my eyes. "Since I'm royalty, my venom is different, so you would have my venom, just in your own alteration and form. It would have the same amount of power as mine. Every vampire has their own venom. It's like…a signature." He grins.

I think this through, trying to get the mangled pieces of information to fit together in my mind.

"So…" I say, hesitating. "If you were to change me, if I chose that option of course, then….My venom and power would be the same as yours? I would be….like your equal?"

"Your venom would not be exactly the same as mine. It would have its own qualities. We can talk about those another time."

"Other than that, though?" I press.

Dimitri deliberates for a moment before nodding. "Yes. You would be my equal."

So, I could go from royal human to royal lunatic.

Great.

"Have you made your decision yet?" Dimitri asks me.

I stare at him incredulously. "Violet said I had time to decide."

Dimitri smirks. "Yes. But I thought my speech was very convincing on how amazing it is to be a vampire."

I roll my eyes. "Yes, you were 'oh so inspiring.'"

"I'm sure." He says.

I sigh and look over at the clock on the nightstand to see it's nearly 2 in the morning.

"Oh," I gasp as a wave of exhaustion crashes over me.

Dimitri laughs. "The human runs out of energy. A first for you, I see."

"Yes, so please leave me to sleep," I say through a large yawn.

I feel the bed shift on my right. Rolling over at an incredible speed, my forehead bounces off of Dimitri's, making a hollow, resonating sound. I groan and grab my head as he chuckles. "What are you doing?" I groan, trying to get the world to turn right-side up again.

"It's customary for vampires to share a bed with their humans for a night in the beginning."

"I'm not your human," I say, trying to talk over the buzzing in my ears.

"For all formal matters, you are. So get used to it. We might as well get this over with." He says, annoyance coloring his tone.

I sit up, my head finally settling down. "I'm not sleeping with you." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

He sat up beside me and slipped his shirt off. I watched him stonily. He saw my expression. "I don't sleep with a shirt on." He retorts. I roll my eyes. "And besides," he started, throwing his shirt onto the floor beside the bed as he leaned closer towards me. "Would it really be _that _horrible?" His accent flourished in his words, budding colorfully. "Sleeping with me?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes. It would be _that _horrible. Is that so hard to believe?"

Dimitri scowls at my words. "You don't get the privilege of sleeping with me, human." He hisses venomously. "I am here to sleep. That is all." A wave of relief rolls over me in an unexplainable way.

I eye him, trying to read whether he is telling the truth or not. He catches my gaze and sighs. "Must you be so open about it?"

I feel my eyebrows crinkle. "About what?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Your obvious attraction to me. I know that I am attractive, but, please, make this night easier for the both of us and stop ogling. I do not fancy it."

My jaw actually dropped. "You think I was staring at you because of-" I caught myself. Like he would believe me either way. "You know what, never mind. Just forget it."

He stared at me for an eternal moment before resting his head on my pillow. I sighed and scooted as far away as I possibly could from him and turned away as I, too, put my head down on a pillow.

Cool breeze blew in from the open glass door, chilling the room to a crisp austerity. Each time I drew the feathered blanket around my body, Dimitri pulled it back towards himself with so much strength I had no chance of fighting him. The first time he did, I fought, which only resulted in my middle finger bending at an unnatural angle as I whimpered in pain, biting down hard on my lip to stop any noise from escaping.

It got to the point where the wind gusted through the room at an incredibly calm, steady pace that I my teeth were chattering. I felt Dimitri roll onto his side.

"Hell, woman, stop shaking. I am not going to touch you." Irritation lathered his voice.

"If you'd stop stealing the whole damn blanket, maybe I would." I snapped. He groaned and threw a good slab of the blanket over to me. However, a few minutes later, as he slept, he drew it back towards him. I tapped him awake. "You take to it like a child with a stuffed animal." I drawled.

Dimitri rubbed his eyes wearily before opening them to look at me. "Come here." He said gruffly. Adamant, I stayed where I was. "If you were not so far away, the blanket would not have to stretch over the whole length of the bed." I didn't want to be any closer to him than I already was. So when I felt his hands grab my waist and gently pull my towards him, I became frozen with shock. I could feel the heat rolling off his chest in waves. Turning towards him, I found that he was already turned away from me. "Sleep now." He grumbled. And with the heat of him and being wrapped comfortably in a downy blanket, I slept.


	7. Chapter Six :Bars, Mats, & Rings:

_**So, uhm….I really don't have a good excuse prepared for this one, save my homework load is intense, and I'm trying! I'll get better as the school year progresses. Thank you so so so so much for following along with this story, through thick and thin, long and short (update-wise). I hope to update again SOON. I'll work on it ASAP…like, weekend asap….**_

_**Thank you so much, y'all! Enjoy the chapter! **_

_**P.S. Review!**_

_*****Ace*****_

_Chapter Six_

_**Mia~**_

A sweet, bright light washed over my sleepy eyelids, peeling them open slowly. I groaned and turned my head to the left to look through the sliding glass door.

Rays of shining yellow light swept over and past the black curtains, through the forest (which I had failed to see before), and beamed over me.

I sighed and walked over to the window, lifting up my arms to soak in the sun. It felt so good just to be back in the light, away from the dark.

The events of last night pounced on me, and I was startled to look into the bed and see Dimitri, still motionless as he slept. I held back laughter; it was hysterical seeing him so vulnerable. With an intense craving to get out of the bedroom, I grabbed some sweats and a tank top and disappeared into the bathroom. Mere seconds later, I was grappling with the door to the bedroom, willing it to stay silent as I slipped out of the room and softly shut the door behind me. And then I ran.

If I was going to be stuck here, I needed to find out where…if, there was a gym somewhere. I needed to train, and sitting in bed was not going to help that. As I bounded through the hallways, taking random turns, I ran into a portly woman dressed in a chef's attire. I nearly toppled over her and a heap of waffles drizzled in butter and syrup.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, balancing the teetering plate on her hand.

"Sorry!" I ushered around her, making sure she was alright. "I didn't mean to run into you."

The chef smiled sweetly, crow's feet dancing around her eyes. "It's fine, my dear! It's no problem at all! I'm Cynthia, one of the chefs."

I smiled widely back at her. The rising sun gathered in her graying hair and in the creases of her face. "I'm Mia," I tell her. "Is there by chance a gym or workout room in this place?"

Cynthia smiled at me. "So you're Mia! How nice to finally meet you. You're the talk of the century around here, you know." She smiled. "There most certainly is a gym you can use. What are you looking for? Weight training or cardio, or what?"

"Gymnastics arena would be the best," I mused doubtfully. To my astonishment, she pointed behind her towards a set of stairs leading down. I thanked her warmly before bounding towards the stairs and following her instructions. Quickly, I ran into a wooden door on my left. Cracking it open slightly, I peeked in and flipped a switch. One by one, panels of lights flickered to life, illuminating a vast room filled with more than enough equipment. On the left of me were three beams, polished to a maximum. In front of them was a vault. I ran over to it and ran my toes through the soft carpeting of the runway. Beside that were uneven bars, not scathed in any place nor chalk on the bars. On its right was a bowl, piled high with chalky powder. I walked over to it in a dream, sifting my fingers through it and finding it so incredibly nice. Behind and to the left was a foam pit (the best for fooling around and learning new aerial moves) and a long trampoline that I could instantly tell was gloriously bouncy. Finally, in the far right corner, set along a wall of unstained mirrors, was a floor. I bounded over to it, cartwheeling around on the mat like a child. It was exceptionally padded.

I was in a gymnast heaven. Immediately, I stretched, eager to begin training. Soon enough I was running at an incredibly speed towards the vault, and my arms stretched in the air, executing a simple back handspring and landing neatly onto the mat. Saluting, I went back towards the beginning of the runway. Vault and floor were my best events, but I liked to warm up with the vault for the singular reason that for floor, your heart needed to be pounding and you had to be into it, whereas with the vault, you didn't have to play a character, or a role. I just had to execute my vault flawlessly. Not nearly as hard.

Moving away from the vault and onto the beam, I started to work on a mount that was ridiculously hard, but one that I hoped to use at Nationals as it came closer. I could never spin just enough, and so I ended up landing on my stomach breathlessly numerous times. I made my way over to the foam pit to practice it into cushioned materials rather than bellyflopping onto a beam. It felt like hours that I worked, but I struggled on and on until noon. When I felt satisfied with the progress I had made in the pit, I brought it back to the beam…only to fall flat.

I cursed, and, chalking up my hands, moved to uneven bars. Although I desperately wanted to do my floor routine, I didn't have the music, so I wouldn't follow it as purposefully. I decided to skip it, and see if I could acquire some music from Violet later on. My hands hurt horribly without the grips on the apparatus, but I pushed on; I would just have to build calluses there, because Dimitri sure as hell wasn't going to help me with that.

The thought of Dimitri made me stumble as I landed, and I took two steps before saluting like in a competition and sighing, dropping my arms and cursing. Deciding it was time to go back to the room, I switched off the light to the room and trudged up the stairs, awaiting certain unknown doom.

To my surprise, I didn't run into him in the halls nor was in the bedroom. I sighed and stepped onto the balcony, letting the wind cool off my body and dry the sweat. I would shower in a little while. I lifted up my arms and enjoyed the breeze. For now, the wind was calming as it blew over my body.

A chuckle from behind me had me lowering my arms and clutching my stomach, trying to cover my bare mid-riff.

"Shit. Don't do that." I say, gathering my breath as I spin around and stare the prince himself in the eyes.

"Where have you been?" He asks, fuming with rage.

"At the gym, duh." I retort, gesturing down to my sweat covered body.

"I don't recall giving you permission to waste half the day in the gym." He growls.

"I don't recall giving you permission to kidnap me, but you did it anyways." I glare at him. "I have to train, no matter whether I'm kidnapped or not."

"Train for what, exactly? You're not going anywhere." He smirks, feeling prideful.

"That's what you think." I grunt, walking off the balcony and towards the bathroom.

"You do have duties, you know. Although you are not a maid or a feeder, Giuseppe has tasks for you, as do I."

I spin in the balls of my feet. "Like what, exactly?"

"You will spend today with Violet." My face lit up. "And you would have spent the afternoon with myself, if you hadn't dawdled off." That made me even happier; I had skipped out of a day with him.

"Dimitri," I say softly, walking up to him. His face softened the slightest bit as I stood close to him. "I will be spending every morning in the gym, training. And you would be foolish to think otherwise." I kept my voice calm, earnestly looking up at him. If I didn't have to fight him on this point, it would be so much easier.

He stared down at me with a look of bewilderment. I smiled and stepped away, and, before completely closing the bathroom door, I leaned out and said, "If you would _so graciously _excuse me, I need to shower."

Dimitri shook his head subtly. "I will send Jade and Alea up to dress you shortly."

I snort. "I can dress myself, thanks."

Shane stares at me blankly. "Yes, I'm sure you can." He says placidly.

Before I can see him leave, I shut the door and lock it, stripping off my dirty clothes to step into the shower.

_**~Violet~**_

I giggled as Jer's arms twined around my waist and he bit my ear. We lay there awhile before I turned around to face him.

"I love you." He told me earnestly. I smiled, pecked him on the lips, and replied "As I love you." He pulled me closer towards him. "You're so fragile. It's hard to be around you; I could break you in a moment."

I heard the agony in his voice and kissed his jaw. "But you won't. I trust you, Jer." He sighed and rested his chin atop my head.

"Do you realize what the worst part is?" He murmurs.

"Hmm?"

"When you let me feed from you. I have to use all of my strength to stop."

"I'm delighted I taste so good." I chuckle as he pulls away.

"I'm serious, Violet. It's truly painful to have to stop." He looked at me, an unknown emotion in his eyes. I felt an icy panic wash over me. Was he going to leave me? "And I've been thinking about this lately. How I'll never age, and you will. And how, one day, I really could kill you. I just couldn't handle that." At a rapid pace, I felt my heart crumbling, like someone was chipping away at it. The debris of it fell into my lungs, making it hard to breathe. "So, Violet," He looks towards me, an emotion in his eyes I still couldn't figure out. He said my name so softly. Would it be the last time he said it so affectionately? "I've come to a decision. It's imperative that you know it, and there will never be any way around it. And it's horrible, and it's cruel, but if it's not made, one of us will get permanently hurt. I just couldn't handle that." He stopped to take a shuddering breath.

I decided to take advantage of that pause. "Jer, just stop." I lightly put my hand to my forehead, cradling the rapidly evolving fever. I feel his gaze jerk onto me.

"What?" He asks, astonished.

"I don't want to hear anymore. Just stop."

"Violet, I don't think you-"

"Jer, STOP! I'll go, alright? Just don't rub it in my face anymore! I don't want an explanation." I stood up and buckled my boots with trembling hands.

"Violet, you just have to wait-"

"No, Jer, I don't have to do anything, and I damn well don't have to listen to an excuse, nor do I want do." I walked towards the door, wobbling on my feet.

"Hold up for a minute, Vi-"

I spin around on my heels, wavering and taking hold of the wall as I fought back the tears poisoning my vision. "No, Jer! Just let me leave! I don't want to hear you anymore!" I screamed, spinning back around and bolting for the door. As I got my grasp around the handle, I felt a tug on my wrist. "Jeremy, stop it. Let me go!" With a final tug, I was spun around into the encirclement of his arms as his familiar lips crushed mine. I couldn't help but respond, through it all. Breaking it off finally, he took my cheeks in his hands.

"You didn't let me finish." He breathed. "I don't want to live without you, and, ultimately, it's your decision. But I won't live on without you. And, right now, I have two things to ask of you." The broken shards of my heart were dangling on thin spider strands like wind chimes. They were slowly lifting upwards.

"Violet, if you want me gone, I'll be gone quicker than you can blink. But if you want me around forever, then I'll be around even longer. But forever is up to you." He paused, taking my hands in his. "Forever as a human, or forever as a vampire…it's up to you, even if you don't want to stay with me. I'll change you either way, if you desire to be changed." The dangling shards danced around each other, reshaping into one pumping heart.

"Secondly," He started, raising my small hands to his lips before going down to one knee, all the while holding my hands. "Violet Mayrin, would you do me the extraordinary, exquisite honor, of marrying me?"

Past the pumping heart now. It was made of pure gold. I watched him kneel there for awhile before he cleared his throat. "Would you also do me the honor of answering my questions, please?" I could see him fidgeting, and the already normal absent color from his face was gone. He was white as a sheet. His words finally sunk in.

I nodded, slowly at first, but then vigorously. "Yes." I squeaked.

"To which one, my dear?" He asked.

I nodded again. "Yes." Jer broke out into a dazzling smile and pulled me down onto his knee, and my joy multiplied by at least four times that day.

At least.

_**~Mia~**_

__A large, cold gust of wind blew through the balcony and whipped me as I stepped out of the bathroom. Clutching my towel tighter, I struggled to shut the door against the wind when I hear two squeals from behind me. As I locked the door shut, Jade and Alea practically bounced into my room.

"I told Dimitri I can dress myself." I told them coldly.

"We told him you can't." Jade giggled, opening the closet. Alea sat down on the bed. I sighed and walked over to the closet, watching Jade pick something out.

"No." I said flatly as she held out a yellow sundress.

"Yes." Jade said, looking at me adamantly.

"I don't want to wear a dress today, so I won't." I glared at her. Jade reminded me of a girl in school, who wasn't all that popular and easy to manipulate. She'd done my French homework numerous times before.

Jade resisted, telling me Dimitri had specifically ordered a dress.

"Oh, so now he's telling me how to dress?" Anger rose up inside of me, and I saw Jade shrink back for a moment. Shocker. I softened my voice. "Jade, I want to wear shorts today. And so I will, regardless of what he, or you, want."

"Mia, she'll get beaten if you don't wear a dress." Alea speaks finally, fear painting her voice.

I turn to look at her sweetly. "Would neither of you take a simple beating for me?" I look down. "I'm hurt, more than any beating could do."

I feel, rather than see, Jade and Alea's resignation. "Wear what you want." Jade sighs quietly, casting a glance down at her feet. Bingo.

I fake a squeal. "You're the best, Jade! Don't forget that!" Jade attempts a smile, but I see the tears shining in her eyes. Guilt washes over me for a moment, but it disappears with the reminder that you have to fight to get what you want. I was a bitch, but I got what I needed. What I wanted.

After I'd slipped on a pair of yellow shorts and a t-shirt, the twins sullenly showed themselves out. I followed them out a few minutes afterwards, wandering aimlessly through the halls.

A large window on my left looked out onto the forest, and, entranced, I climbed up into the windowsill and sat there, staring blankly out at it. It could have been a minute or an hour later, but two leather-clad legs were planted beside me. I sighed and looked up towards Dimitri, who was, in turn, surveying my legs.

"You're not wearing a dress." He says.

"Nope!" I smile and swing my legs off the sill and onto the floor. "Oh, and don't worry. I got the message from Jade. She said she was willing to do practically _anything _for me." I stepped forward. "So don't worry about me not getting your messages."

He frowned down at me and cupped his face in my hands. "You know you are a conniving little bitch, yes?"

I shrug. "It's a gift." Dimitri leans down to my ear.

"Don't worry. I'll break you quickly. Soon, your willpower and your confidence will be gone."

I pout. "But I'll be no fun then, now will I?"

He pulls away, hands now gripping my cheeks. "With one quick turn, I could break your neck." He slowly moved my head backwards till it hurt. "One more inch and a half, and you're a goner, sweetie." Fear bubbled up inside of me, and I cowered away from him, trying to breathe and get the pain out of my neck.

Instantly, the pain was gone, and my head whipped forwards as I gasped air into my scratching throat. Dimitri smirks. "And, my dear, you didn't manipulate anyone. I set Jade up for this, to see how you'd react. She was supposed to give in. The dear girl won't get beaten." He turns his torso towards me. "But if you actually disobey me next time, during something that is truly important, something much worse will happen than anyone getting a beating." He smirks wickedly before walking away. "Wear what you want for now."

I stood there for a long time, bewildered. He'd set Jade up? I'd actually been caught off guard, conned in my own game.

I shrugged it off, but a little blooming relief crept into my chest. Jade wasn't going to be beaten. Relief? It shocked me; It'd been awhile since I'd actually cared about anyone.

_**~Violet~**_

I roamed the halls absentmindedly, deep in thought.

I wanted to tell Mia about my relationship with a vampire, but she would freak out and hate me, partly due to the fact that she didn't truly believe they were real.

"Violet!" Someone shouts my name, sending me jumping out of my skin.

I turn around quickly. "Yeah, that's me." It was Cynthia, one of the highly respected chefs of the house.

"Violet," She breathes heavily. Sweat marks her forehead and lightly patters her gray hair. "Are you the head maid for the new girl?"

"Mia?" I ask. Cynthia nods.

"Yup, that would be me."

Cynthia sighs. "Good, good. I was wondering, if you weren't too busy, if you could help me with this steak for a moment. If I don't get this to her in time, the prince will fume."

I laugh. "Yes he will. His little 'pet' is actually really nice. I like the girl. I just hope he doesn't ruin it."

Cynthia laughs. "What does he not ruin?" She mumbles while leading me back towards the kitchen.

"So you are her chef, then?" I ask her.

She nods. "Yes. I don't understand why the prince picked me to serve her. I'm not that great a chef."

I smack her arm lightly. "Cynthia! You are, and that is why he chose you. Out of all the other cooks, he chose you."

She smiles lightly. "The experienced are the old, hm?"

I laugh. "I guess that explains why I'm not too smart." I say.

As we walk into the kitchen, I take in the room once again. It had been months since I had worked in here. Ever since Jer had been interested in me, I had been a top maid. If-no, now it was when-I was changed, I would be royalty.

Not as high royalty as Dimitri, but up there. I would be in the family.

Although Jer was the elder brother, he was not the heir to the throne.

Unlike many other cultures, the throne successor was chosen by the king, not immediately given to the eldest son.

Giuseppe had chosen Dimitri to rule. He hadn't thought Jer to be the best pick.

Still, Jer is known throughout the vampire world as royalty. He would still have perks and money and an amazing house. He just wouldn't rule, which was fine with me. I got him all to myself that way.

"Okay," Cynthia said, shaking me out of my thoughts. "Will you just pick up the steak with the clamps while I drizzle and marinate it quickly?"

"Of course," I say, picking up the tongs. "Uh, Cynthia, doesn't it take awhile to marinate?" I ask skeptically.

She eyes me. "I have a special way of doing things here. No one complains, and it turns out better than a regular dish."

I laugh. "Whatever you say."

She shakes some pepper onto the hot piece of steak and pours the thick sauce over it. My mouth waters slightly.

"Damn, Cynthia. You're going to have to make me one of these."

She whacks me on the nose with a wooden spoon. "Watch your mouth, there. I may just have to serve you a soap soup to clean your mouth."

I laugh. "Okay, okay. No profanity around you."

Cynthia grabs a plate and sets it underneath the steak. "Just drop it," she says to me. I let go of the steak and it plops onto the glass plate, the juice splashing everywhere.

I laugh as some lands on my cheek. I swipe it with my fore-finger and stick it in my mouth, savoring the flavors that gush wildly through my mouth.

"What do you think she'll like more?" Cynthia says. "Apple cider, orange juice or water?"

"Uhm…" I say intelligently. "Since the apple cider has blood mixed in it right now, cross that off the list."

"But wait," Cynthia says carefully. "She is the crossbreed, isn't she?"

I nod my head.

"So then, she is able to digest blood, yes?"

"No," I say. "Her vampire side could, but her human half would convulse and most likely throw it up again. Only if she is starving, or has lost much blood, can she digest other blood like a vampire."

"Oh." Is all Cynthia says, shoving the cider back into the fridge. "then I guess I will take her a pitcher of water and a glass of orange juice."

"Here," I say, walking over to her and extending my arms. "Let me take the drinks while you take the steak."

"Thank you," She says kindly as we walk out of the kitchen and towards Mia's room.

"Cynthia, when you meet her, though, don't say much about her parents. I feel she is touchy on the subject." Cynthia mimics zipping her lips shut with her free hand.

Knocking lightly on Mia's door, I slowly peer in. "Mia? I've got some food for you."

Her stomach growls as if on cue as she pops into vision from the balacony. "Food, huh? I haven't eaten forever! I'm starved!"

I laugh. "Don't starve yourself. That's never good." _Especially for you, _I add silently. _You would go blood crazy if you did starve yourself. _

Cynthia stands by me awkwardly with the steak balancing on her palm. I glance over at her.

"Oh, here." I say. "Just set it down on the bed."

She nods her head and walks over to the black bed, setting down the warm steak delicately. I walk over to the table by the bed and set the pitcher of ice water and the glass of orange juice down.

Mia glances over at Cynthia, who is standing by the bed.

"Oh!" I say. "This is your cooking maid, Cynthia. She is only the best." I smile at the last part as Cynthia's face colors.

Mia smiles at her. "We've met before. Glad to know I have un-lunatic maids. Now I've met all four of you."

I stare at her. "Four?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Yeah. You, Cynthia, Jade and Alea."

I think through this. "I guess you haven't met your cleaning maid. I wonder who it is…" I trail off, going through the best cleaning maids in my mind.

"Yum!" Mia shouts. "Steak! Oh, I haven't had this in forever." She cuts into it savagely and sticks a piece in her mouth.

"Ah, that's good," She mumbles around the piece. Cynthia laughs. "I'm glad you like it. Just come find me in the kitchen if you ever want anything to eat."

Mia smiles. "Yeah, that would be great. I'll have Violet show me where the kitchen is."

She eyes me with a humoring glint in her eye. I laugh. "When you're finished eating, I'll give you a tour of the whole house. Or, at least, the parts that I know and you are not prohibited from."

Mia smiles as she gulps down another piece of the steak. "I think the prohibited places are the most enjoyable."

I laugh. "Okay, but we have to be careful."

Cynthia clears her throat. "Well, I better be off. Have to prepare some food for the gala next weekend."

I smile. They were always fun to go to with Jer.

"Oh! Uh, Mariella?" Cynthia says, popping her head back in the doorway.

"Yes?" She says.

"How do you like your meat?"

"Just like this," Mia says. "Oh, and you can call me Mia. It's shorter."

Cynthia smiles. "Mia. Medium-rare. Got it. Bye now!"

She disappears from the doorway and I watch Mia finish the rest of her food.

When she finishes the large glass of orange juice, I grab her arm. "Are you ready for the grand tour of Chez de la Dracula?"

Mia laughs. "What's that?"

I roll my eyes. "House of vampires, in French."

"Oh. Then yes, let's go."

I smile at her before running down the hall.


	8. Chapter Seven :Maze of a Mansion:

_Yeah, it's been really long, I know. : ( But I get winter break for two weeks soon, so I'll try to put up as many chapters as I can during that time! _

_Until then, please enjoy this one! _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Seven_

_**~Mia~**_

All the halls are the same. The same deep, rich red carpeting covered the floors. All the walls were painted in the death black shades. If I hadn't been with Violet, I would have gotten lost. Even the low-light torches were placed in the same spots.

"They place everything the same way," Violet explains, keeping up her same jog. "Because consistency looks nicer to them, and they don't need differences to find their way around. Their stupid memory is amazing."

"So I see," I murmur.

"It also helps keep their humans confused. If they ever try to run away, or something."

Well, that makes more sense. I couldn't find my way out of here to save my life.

It might come to saving my life that way.

Violet skids around a corner and slows her pace to walk.

Turning around to face me, she starts speaking. "Okay, so each floor level has its own purpose. There are four floors."

"Four floors that are as big as this?" I ask, surprised.

Violet nods. "Oh yeah." She grins slyly. "Okay, so the top floor is the vampire's headquarters. Basically, their bedrooms, the office, the meeting room, etcetera. For the vampires that live here, I mean."

I nod my head.

"The second floor, that we are on, is for the vampire guests. Only high-class vampires get to stay here, so this floor is also pretty exclusive. It also has the ballroom, where the vampires hold their galas, gatherings, and balls."

"Then why am I staying on this floor?" I ask, confused. "I'm not a vampire." I rolled my eyes sarcastically.

"You're a half-vampire," Violet says, raising an eyebrow. "You're a special circumstance that the vampires haven't had to deal with before."

"Oh," I say, disapprovingly. It's not like I really was a vampire. Or a half-vampire, for that matter. They didn't exist.

"The third floor is the maid's floor, basically. Our bedrooms are there, and the kitchen and cleaning supplies room and things like that are down there. Usually we only go down there."

"Oh. So that's where you sleep, then?" I ask her.

Violet fidgets. I can see she is uncomfortable with the question. "Uh, yeah. That's where I sleep." She says, avoiding my gaze.

I decide to let it slip. I would ask her another time.

"So what is the last floor for?" I ask, changing the subject.

Violet looks up at me, grateful for the subject change. Her eyes turn sad, though.

"Just….don't go down to the fourth floor. It's not a nice sight."

"What is it, Violet?" I ask, interested.

"Just don't worry about the fourth floor," She says quickly.

"Violet, what is it?" I ask, irritation creeping into my voice.

"Nothing." Violet says. "Don't worry about it."

"Violet!" I half yell. "Just spit it out!"

"It's where they keep the humans, okay?" She says, sighing.

It takes a moment for this to sink in. "You mean, the humans they 'feed' off of?"

Violet nods.

I stay silent for a moment before bursting.

"You mean to tell me that these people who think they are vampires not only think they are, but they actually drink out of humans? That can lead to aids and huge hysteria, Violet! What's wrong with these people?" I scream.

"Shush!" Violet whispers violently, clamping her small hand over my mouth. I tear it away.

"Mia," She says. "They aren't people. They're vampires. I wish you would believe me."

"I wouldn't believe this bull for my life," I hiss.

Violet sighs. "Let's just get on with the tour, okay? I need to show you around the whole house."

I roll my eyes. "Fine."

We walked through a grand circular room. "Those doors over on your right lead to the ballroom. You'll see that room pretty soon." Violet says bluntly. I stay silent.

We walk over towards a flight of curling stairs that lead up to the next floor. They consisted of white marble, glass railings, and silver ledges.

Violet trots up quickly, leaving me to stumble behind her. When I get up, I find the hallways to be much nicer than my halls.

Crimson silk lines the cushioned walls as a fancy black carpet adorns the long hallway. Large wooden doors scatter around the walls. I assumed each of these to lead to a room.

Violet takes me towards the left. "Right there is Dimitri's room."

Even here, all the hallways were the same. I couldn't decipher a difference, even with different carvings lying in the wooden doors.

Violet takes a curving left. "This whole floor winds in a circle. We could go back to where we started, but on the other side of the circle are stairs leading to the other side of the house. We are going there."

"Okay," I mumble absentmindedly. This house was enormous.

When Violet suddenly falls out of my line of sight, I stop in my tracks, panicking.

"Violet?" I murmur quietly.

I get no answer.

"Violet?" I try to keep my voice steady, but it quivers slightly.

Again, only silence answers me.

"Violet, where are you?" I say, my voice raising and echoing through the circular floor.

"Mia, I'm down here," Violet's voice hisses up to me. I look down to see a steep stairwell leading down. Violet's voice wafts up to me.

I step cautiously down the stairs, almost falling a few times. Violet catches me on the last step, due to my foot snagging on the step.

"Jeez, is it really that hard to find?" She asks seriously.

I look down, grumbling a muffled reply of "We're not all smart."

Violet rolls her eyes. "Come on. We have one more floor to see."

"This is a pretty short tour," I say suddenly.

Violet turns around, looking me in the eye. "I can't make it too long. They'll find us and see what we're doing. I have to get you back to your room ASAP."

With that, she spins around and speed walks down a hall.

This floor wasn't nearly as nice as mine, or the vampire's floor. Although still decent, I could see that this was the maid's floor.

The ceramic tiles were shiny and poured back my reflection in a distorted way. The walls were simple plaster (painted to a red of course). Many somewhat elegant paintings hung on the walls. I assumed that was one way the maids found their way around.

The hall poured out into a small, circular foyer. It could probably fit forty people at most. The walls were close together, forming a small hexagon.

Violet points her finger to the left. "Through that door is the kitchen. You have to go through there to get to the rest of the chambers." She walks over there with me trailing behind.

The kitchen surprises me. All the cooking supplies and electronics were hi-tech.

We stood facing the east wall. On the far left wall stood a silver fridge. Right beside me, many stoves and ovens sat on the ground. I could smell some food cooking in them.

"That smells so good," I say, inhaling deeply.

"Why thank you," A voice says, sending me jumping. I spin around on my heels to see Cynthia standing with her hands on her wide hips, a large grin plastering onto her cheeky face.

"So, this is your domain then?" I ponder aloud.

Cynthia laughs heartily and pushes past me. "Guess so." She goes to lean against the marble island in the middle of the room.

She leans her arm back against the counter, where a meat knife is lying. She leans into it, putting all her weight onto the island.

"Ah, ouch." She says, jumping away from the island and twisting her arm to examine how deep the knife cut.

A long, oozing cut slashes across her left arm. The blood dripped into scarlet streams on her arm and lead down to puddles on the floor.

"Here, let me help you," I say, rushing over towards a towel. I chuck it off the island and bring it up to her arm. "Press it there for a moment, okay?" I say quickly.

I frantically tried to remember the medical emergency class I had taken. This wasn't too much of an emergency, but it was enough. I hoped I could produce the simple procedure without hurting Cynthia more.

"O-okay. Mia, sweetie, it's not a big deal. Just a small cut is all."

"We'll see just how small it is," I murmur, grabbing two more towels and running over to the sink on the south wall, running one towel under cold water.

I sprint back to her and pull the compressed towel away from her arm quickly to rub the wet towel delicately over the cut.

The knife had cut pretty deep. I could see a few strands of muscle that had barely survived the cut.

"You got it bad," I say to her, pressing the wet towel against her arm and letting her hold it there.

"Oh, it's nothing," She says, fiddling around the kitchen for a mop. "I just need to clean this little scarlet puddle up before some vampires come down here."

It dawns on me that we are in a house of vampires. Or, people who thought they were vampires so they sucked the life out of other humans. I realize the urgency of this situation. It was a miracle a lunatic hadn't come out of the upstairs lairs yet.

"Oh, shit," I say, panic rushing into my voice. "We need to clean you up quick."

"Mia, sweetie, it's no big deal." Cynthia tries to shoo me away, but I stubbornly protest.

"Let me fold this towel into a bandage around your arm. We have to clean up this place. Quick."

Violet hops into the conversation. "I'll start mopping the floor while you get Cynthia's arm wrapped up, Mia. Go!"

Cynthia eyes the two of us before pulling herself away from the mop.

I tie the two ends of the clean towel together quickly, creating a tourniquet that will squeeze her arm tightly. I slip it over her bleeding arm, pulling it tighter and securing it into place.

"Go help Violet," I say to Cynthia. "But be careful with your arm."

Cynthia nods and turns away from me. I turn towards the island counter.

I scan it for her blood. I don't find anything.

Then it dawns on me. The knife.

I scan the table recklessly with my eyes, only to find it's on the other side of the table.

I could see the glistening bar of blood that spattered across the jagged teeth of the sharp knife. Dashing towards the knife, I put all my speed into the skid around the corner of the island. I hoped I could beat a crazy one to the mess quick enough to get it decently cleaned.

My hand flashes towards the knife, reaching out. I was going to beat them there. I was going to. I had to.

_One more step,_ I urge myself.

My hopes are shattered in that second.

A dark, looming shadow climbs over me as I look up to see a crazy. He smiles down at me before swatting my hand away from the knife to take it himself.

All of this went in slow motion. Only after he got the knife, did it speed back up again.

His dazzling white smile shined down at me. Where his canines would be, two long, hooked and extended claw-like teeth grew out. They glistened, throwing back my fear-stricken expression.

His pale blonde hair was combed over to a side. You could still see where each separate comb had toothed its way through his bleached hair.

His tall figure was lanky. I knew he had muscles, but they didn't bulge from underneath his spotless black suit.

"Hello," He purrs at me, palming the knife. "And may I ask, is this your sweet blood that has been spilled for my pleasure?"

I gulp down a mouth of vile. I couldn't speak. Not right now. Faintly, in the background, I could hear Violet whispering urgently to Cynthia as her ragged breaths turned panicky.

He holds the knife up to his nose. "Hm."

He then lowers his nose down to my neck, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. I stay frozen in place.

"Ah, a pity. No blood such as this," he holds up the knife. "Could ever compare to yours. So, therefore, you have not relished for my delight to spill your sweet blood into my mouth."

I didn't understand why he was using the formal, taunting language. Then again, I didn't understand his lunatic ways.

At this realization, I find my voice. "Not only would I never cut myself for a lunatic like you to drink it." My voice starts out sweet. As I go on, it turns into a nasty, biting chill. "_None of us_ would cut ourselves for an idiot like _you _to drink it. This was a _mistake. _And it was a mistake for you to come down here. So slither away, little one." I turn frigid, giving him my bitchiest stare.

He just smiles. "What a flame you carry inside you. Such passion," he muses, hooking a finger under my chin. "Would you like to share it with me?"

A dirty glint fills his eyes as I understand his meaning. "Not for my life," I say, pushing away from him.

His look turns crest-fallen. "Oh? What a pity."

"I was hoping for an easy call. I guess it will be by force, then?"

I refuse to let my eyes go wide with horror. I stay standing in my place defiantly.

"Back away from me, set the knife down, and leave the kitchen. Now!" I yell at him, placing my hands on his sweater to shove him away with all the force I had in my arms.

He laughs. "Why would I? You, my little darling one, entertain me so much. I haven't been so amused in the past fifty years!"

Fifty years. What? He looked like he was in his twenty's.

I didn't know how to respond.

Luckily, I didn't have to.

_He _swooped into the room without even a glance at the puddles of blood on the floor. A sheathed dagger was in his tightly gripped hand as he pointed the tip into the blond crazy's back, turning him so that the blonde's neck was ensconced by Dimitri's arm. "Just because you are a guest in my house," He growled, "Does not mean you have the privilege to our supplies, nor to our humans."

The blonde laughs, his chest shaking. "When will the prince learn? No vampire can be hurt with a knife."

"The meaning is enough," Dimitri growls before spinning him so that they were chest to chest. Holding the blonde's shoulder with his free hand, Dimitri looked into his eyes. "You will leave now. You will not bother the servants or humans under our care for the duration of your stay. You will go back to your room and stay there until you are parched, and when you call for a drink, you will be denied it for another 12 hours." The blonde's pupils dilated, as if he were under a spell. Dimitri release him.

The blonde looks around the room, dazed. "I will leave." He repeats, before turning away and out of the room.

One look at Dimitri, and I crumple to the floor in exhaustion.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I barreled my way into the kitchen to see an astounding sight.

Violet was tending to Cynthia over in the corner, whose arm was gouged severely by what seemed like a cut. Pools of scarlet blood stained the floor around me as a mop lay flat in a puddle, drenched in the warm, inviting drink.

The island counter in the middle of the room was clean save the top-right corner, which was lathered in blood.

I let my gaze lead me up a pair of black, boot-cut tuxedo pants that coated a man.

His blonde hair is as white as bone. It falls around his jaw-line messily. His eyes are a dark crimson embezzled in his eye sockets.

He wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was a vampire. It was quite obvious he was doing the exact opposite.

His fangs protruded over his thin bottom lip as he smiled down at Mariella. His eyes blazed down at her, grazing over her body hungrily. I could only think of the vile thoughts that bubbled inside his incoherent head.

I silently pull the dagger out of the sheath that was slung around my belt.

I quickly wrap my right arm that holds the dagger around his throat while I yank him to me with my left arm.

I growl in a low, threatening voice that I rarely ever used. "Just because you are a guest in my house does not mean you have the privilege to our supplies, nor to our humans."

Mariella.

_Focus, idiot, _I growl to myself in my head. I need to pay attention to the vampire who had threatened to sexually assault _my _human. She was _mine. _

The blonde rumbles a laugh from deep in his chest as his hair shakes.

"When will the prince learn? No vampire can be hurt with a knife." I spun the blonde around and grabbed his head so he had nowhere to look but in my eyes. "You will leave now. You will not bother the servants or humans under our care for the duration of your stay. You will go back to your room and stay there until you are parched, and when you call for a drink, you will be denied it for another 12 hours." The blonde's pupils dilated, and he repeats "I will leave" before walking away in a daze.

I turn my head back to Mariella just in time to see her slump to the floor.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I cradled her slim cheeks in my large hands, turning her head from side to side. Her normally vibrant green, fire lit eyes were glazed over into a dull, opaque fog. Her cheeks were drained of color. Her hands lay sprawled on the white tile of the floor, palms facing upward. They seemed almost discolored. A pale, ghastly color washed over her skin. I was afraid of what had happened.

"Shit," I growl. I could feel the famished drawl of my stomach pull up my throat, setting it on fire.

I really would have loved to just take a sip out of Mia. She was my human, anyways.

How bad could it be?

I shook my head vigorously. I wouldn't bite her. Not now. Not ever.

If I did, I would taste her savory life pouring into my empty body as I would drink from her slowly. I would taste the anger, and the pain, the life, the sorrow, the delight, the pure ecstasy, I would taste everything she felt.

The key to a human was their blood.

I slap her face lightly, trying to merge some color back into the chalky ghost that had possessed her face.

When nothing happens, I sigh and bend my ear down to her heart. Of course, I didn't need to. It was still beating strongly and powerfully, and of course I could hear it from a mile away. But I just had to get close to her.

Scooping her up in my arms, I cradle her softly against my chest.

She sighed and buried her face into my chest, inhaling deeply through her nose in her sleep. I chuckle quietly as her fingers curl into fists around the dark navy sweater I was wearing.

I wish I could know what was drifting through her mind at the moment. I wish I could know at all times.

I let her clutch my sweater tightly as I run through the halls towards her room. I idly wondered which room would be hers on the upper royal floor if she chose to become one of us. Of course, my father had something planned out for her.

I dodge maids absent-mindedly as I slowed to a jog to open the door to her room.

Laying her down gently, I fluff the pillow lightly so her head can rest. I pull the sheets out from under her to let them drape over her figure.

Just looking at her made my senses alert. Almost like a violin string strung too tightly, about to snap with a curling whip-lash that would most definitely hurt like hell.

Well, for a human.

I take one last longing look at Mia before exiting the room quickly and locking the door. I needed to get to the feeding chambers.

"Dimitri?" Giuseppe's voice drifted to me through the halls.

"Yes, Giuseppe?"

"Come here, boy. I must talk to you."

I groan inwardly. "May it wait? I am famished."

"I will have a glass waiting for you in the throne room, Dimitri. Now come. We must discuss."

I sigh and walk towards the ballroom, which my father called the 'throne room.' Something large must be going on, and I had an itching feeling that fingered my spine saying nothing good could come out of this.


	9. Chapter Eight :Tattooing A Proposal:

_Yeah, I took a long time. But, to make up for it, in 2-3 weeks, I have 2 weeks off of school, so I'm going to __try__ (and notice the underlined word) to upload 4 chapters during that time. I hope you guys like this chapter, but I seriously need more reviews for inspiration. I know that this story is taking forever, but it's super appreciated how loyal everyone is. _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Eight_

_**~Dimitri~**_

I sat in the crimson leather chair with my back straight when Giuseppe finally came to sit in front of me.

"Take one," Giuseppe says, inclining his head towards the tray that lies on the table beside me. It held two goblets, both filled with blood.

"What is it we must discuss, Giuseppe?" I ask formally.

He crosses his legs. "You will be taking over the throne soon."

I nod my head. "Yes."

"In my and your mother's absence, who will fill the other potential throne spot? There are two in the royalty, yes?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Do you mean to say a partner?"

"More or less," he says nonchalantly. "Who is to rule alongside you? Share your space, your time, your life, you?"

I stifle a sigh and fall back in my chair. "I do not know."

Giuseppe's eyes bulge slightly. "You have none the slightest idea?"

I shake my head.

A sly smile pulls at the corners of his aged mouth. "No idea whatsoever?"

I shake my head again.

"No one in mind? Not a single soul?"

I sigh and run through people in my head. No one I thought of particularly stood out.

"No. I have no one in mind." I tell him, trying to mask my frustration from leaking into my voice.

He breaks into a full smile. "You're lying."

I stare at him in shock. "Pardon?"

He states each word separately. "You. Are. Lying. To. Me."

I shake my head, confused. "Do I have reason to lie? I have no one in mind."

"Dimitri, it's okay. I know who you're mind has in perspective. If she chooses our path, she will be yours. Patience, son."

I stare at him. "You mean Mariella? She is a human, and knows nothing about our world. She could not rule alongside me. She is too stubborn. I wouldn't be able to get her small mouth shut, which would be a problem, considering the large words she uses often."

"You have her in mind. I know. Just be patient."

I growl under my breath. "I do not want her, _father._" I say, trying to get my voice to not shake with anger.

"Do not lie to me!" He booms. "Either accept your weaknesses, or give up the throne. You can do nothing if you cannot recognize your own weaknesses."

At that, he strode out of the room.

I groan and let my head fall against the chair.

_**~Mariella~**_

_I look around the area. _

_Violet lilacs licked my ankles, swaying happily in the light breeze that caressed the earth. I faced west, looking over towards turquoise mountain peaks. Their tips were covered in a slick ice that shined and reflected everything in its intangible touch. They penetrated the evening sky, letting the vibrant colors bleed out of the cotton clouds. _

_Out of the corner of my left eye, I saw a whole other land. Tall, bushy trees glinted off the warm aura of the sky, standing above me by a great amount. They formed a semi-circle, the bend in the circle leaning away from me. In the middle of the semi-circle of trees lay a break, caused by a small stone path. _

_Trickles of water slipped over the stone path, carving the small grey stones into smooth ovals. The stones were snaked into a winding path past the semi-circle as the water ran through it._

_I turn my head to the right, glancing past the ice-peaked mountains. Endless fields of rich clovers and flowers poured out towards me. The azure periwinkles bordered the amethyst patches of zinnias in a swirl of mismatched designs and patterns. The cherry roses varied with the more pallid colors. _

_I folded my legs into a pretzel formation as I sit down gingerly, letting the soft blades of grass fall through the slips in my fingers. _

_A perfect dream…_

_That's all this was. A dream. _

I woke up refreshed and excited. I felt like everything was okay, as if I was back home in my own comfy purple bed.

Then I remembered.

I had been kidnapped by lunatics, been told that vampires exist, and met 'The prince.'

One hell of a week.

As if on cue, Dimitri walks in, a tall and incredibly thin girl lapping at his feet. I stare past him, focusing on her instead.

She was tall and lanky, dressed in a black and white maid's uniform. It was very small and almost showed her underwear. I was certain this was not by accident.

Her long black hair fell down her back in straight piles. Her eyes were glued to the floor, but I could see the rims of her lapis lazuli irises.

"This is Elizabeth," Dimitri says, turning towards me. "Get out of bed. She's going to clean your room while you join me for breakfast."

"Why would I do that?" I hiss. "I'm not getting out of bed while you're in the room."

"First," He says, his voice still dark and taunting. "You _will _join me for breakfast because you are my human. Second, are you afraid to get out of the bed while an amazingly glorious man, such as myself, is in the room?"

"I'm not your human, I'm your prisoner that _will _get away from this hell-hole. And no, I'm not afraid, but I'm not fully dressed. Now go."

He rolls his eyes. "We've gone over this, dear. I tell you what to do, you don't tell me."

I tilt my head to the side, giving him a steady, taunting look. "And, as I've pointed out, you will _not_ tell me what to do and I _will _demand what I need. No matter if you're a lunatic, I'm the prisoner, I get what I want."

He smiles. "It doesn't work that way, dear."

"I'm not a deer," I mutter, using a play on his words to frustrate him.

The right corner of his mouth lifts up. "You're as dumb as one, though."

I throw my head back into utter laughter. "Then what are you?" I gasp. "A jackass?"

He frowns. "I'm the hunter."

I stop laughing at that, staring at him incredulously.

"When you are ready, I will be waiting outside." With that, he strides out of the room.

Elizabeth stands in the corner of my room awkwardly with her hands curling over each other.

"Elizabeth?" I say.

"Yes'm?" She mumbles.

"Don't be so formal with me. You don't have to always be formal in this house full of assholes."

Her lapis lazuli eyes widen in shock. "He's standing outside," She lip syncs.

I chuckle. "Yes, I know he's outside. That's exactly why I said it."

She stares at me, as if I'm asking for the grim reaper to simply clip my head off with his scythe at that exact moment.

"Come here," I say, waving my hand. She walks quickly over to me.

"Now, don't call me anything formal. You can call me Mia."

"Mia," She mumbles, averting her gaze.

"Will you look me in the eye, Elizabeth?" I say, sighing. "I'm not going to bite you."

She jumps at my analogy before shyly looking into my eyes. I suppress a large eye-roll. Apparently she believed in the vampires too.

"So, I suppose you are my last maid?" I wonder aloud. She bobs her head.

"Yes ma'am. I mean, Mia." She stumbles and catches herself. I smile.

"Elizabeth, seriously, when you're around me, you don't have to be so scared. I'm not a lunatic, and I won't ever be." I say soothingly.

I lower my voice and lean in to whisper in her ear quietly. "And because of their super hearing, I'm going to whisper this. If you ever just need a break, come to my room, even when I'm not here. I won't ever have you clean, okay?"

Her head turns up slowly, a small smile playing across her pale pink talcum lips. "Yes'm." She lip syncs. "Thank you, Mia."

I nod my head. "Now, what the _hell _are you wearing? I have seen some other maids around here, but not in such a slutty uniform as that."

She chuckles. "Only the cleaning maids need to wear it."

I roll my eyes. "Let me guess. It's Dimitri's design?

She bobs her head in a jerky manner. "Yes, it is the prince's design." She leans into me to whisper quietly into my ear. Her cold, sickled breath tickles my ear. "And he cut mine short."

Shivers tremble up her spine. I stare at her.

She just shakes her head. "Another time," She mouths. "We have to clean up this room while you get ready for breakfast."

I swing my legs over the left side of the bed and hop out, stretching. "Wait," I yawn. "Before you 'start cleaning', we need to get you something."

I walk over to my closet and search rapidly for some pants. I turn back to look at her. "So what do you prefer? Jeans, or sweats?"

When I closed the door to my room, Dimitri was leaning against the wall casually, his arms crossed over his chest.

He wore a white button-up shirt that was made of soft cotton. I had the urge just to feel the cotton. His black slacks were still formal, but not dress-suit formal.

"Why must everything be formal here?" I say stubbornly.

His eyes narrow. "It's a manor. You must dress properly to be in etiquette and accord with the others."

He eyes me slowly, his gaze dawdling over my body lazily. "I have no assumption to why you are wearing those horrid pants, but I have never understood humans." I looked down at my sweats in response.

"You were human once," I mutter under my breath.

"Indeed I was," he says. "But I was changed when I was five. I have no recollection of my first five years in my 467 year life."

I gawk. He had to be making that up. No one was that old.

Brushing off the comment, I walk over towards him, still keeping my distance.

I roll my eyes as he links his arm through mine. With a glint in his eye and his arm in mine, he looks down to my face to say "Shall we?"

_**~Dimitri~**_

I keep a firm grip on Mariella's arm as she stumbles behind me.

"Slow down!" She gasps.

I smirk. "We are already late for breakfast. Unless you want to be carried, keep up the pace."

She snorts. "Like I would ever want to be carried in your arms."

"I'm sure you would," I say dryly, losing humor. I didn't understand why she despised me so much.

"Why must I come to your breakfast?"

"We have already gone over this." I tell her. "You are my human, therefore my responsibility, and my property. You will do as I say, when I say, how I say."

She stops, yanking her arm away from me before bursting into a fit of laughter. "_What_, is so funny?" I fume. She has me irritated in a matter of minutes: classic.

"So, if you told me to make love to someone a certain way at a certain time, I would _have_ to do it?" She continues to laugh.

"Yes." I tell her, not finding the humor in the statement at all.

"Sure sure, you're hilarious. Keep it up, why don't you?" She giggles, recovering from her fit while holding her stomach.

Grabbing her hand, I set off at a faster pace then before, leaving her stumbling as though she has two left feet.

Outside the dining hall doors, I stop, apparently too abruptly, because she slams into my back, both hands landing atop my shoulder blades. The warmth of her hands beat through my shirt, and I could feel her heartbeat as though it were beating in my own chest cavity.

The amount of power she holds over me is so frustrating, I turn around and glare down at her. "Maybe if you stopped acting like a human and started being the fucking hybrid you are, you wouldn't have stumbled, and you wouldn't have slammed into me." Her eyes fill with surprise before morphing into hatred.

"Maybe if you stopped being such a cocky bastard, you'd see that you are no better than anyone else on this planet and care for something other than your hubris." She spits. Even in the midst of her angered words, I could only watch her mouth move, curving up and down in a beautiful work of art. I turned away from her and huffed before opening the doors.

"Dimitri, son! So pleased you came." Giuseppe's voice bellows through the grand dining hall. He peeks around my shoulders to stare wonderingly at Mariella. "And you brought a beautiful addition. What splendid company I hold this morning!" He claps his hands, causing my mother to jump. She is seated on Giuseppe's left.

There are many empty seats around the table. I stride forward towards my mother, Mariella in tow, but she pulls her arm away and proceeds to the chair farthest away from all of us. I stare at her, dumbfounded, before speeding towards her and yanking her arm. "You will sit with us." I growl in her ear. She swats me away with an open hand, which I immediately grabbed. It turned into s small fight, of sorts, where she had my legs and I had her hands. Only when we both paused for a moment did I hear Giuseppe's laughter. Turning around, my mother was beaming at us. Mariella cleared her throat. I quickly disentangled myself from her, growling at her to behave.

She was absurd. Absolutely stubborn and mule-headed. How one had the audacity to perform such a stunt, I did not know. Reluctantly, she followed me over towards the seats beside my mother.

Giuseppe and my mother exchanged sly expressions. I looked uneasily between them and Mariella. What had they planned? We all waited easily, exchanging fickle comments until the meal arrived. Mariella was given french toast and a glass of blood. Not like she would drink it, the stubborn bitch.

Once she had finished salivating over the food and actually consumed it, not to mention taking one sniff of the blood before pushing it away from herself in disgust, Giuseppe dabbed his chin with a napkin and began.

"I-well, your mother and I, have something to speak about with the both of you." He began. He looked to my mother, who gave him a light pat on his forearm before turning to Mariella and me.

"Dimitri, your father and I-we grow tired of holding the throne. It's high time you replace us and begin your era. But, as you know, you cannot fulfill this duty without a partner." Her eyes flickered towards Mariella for the slightest of moments, and I fully comprehended what was taking place before my eyes.

"Mother, I pray you do not finish this speech. It is truly absurd either of you should bring it up." I ran a hand through my hair, pulling through the knots. "This is most certainly something neither Mariella or I would like to address together. Ever." I spared a glance over at her, who was bewildered as ever.

"You see, son, I cannot help but disagree with that statement. Because both your mother and I are witnessing the current interactions between the two of you, and we agree that, should her decision be with us, this will be the outcome."

"Has she decided yet, Father?" I asked him, my voice raising. "Has she given you a slip of paper declaring her final choice? I do not believe this is so, and therefore we cannot make plans for loose threads of possibilities." I shouted, and, for the first time in years, I felt myself out of breath.

Giuseppe toppled his chair over as he stood up, towering over the table. My mother put a hand over his, crooning and urging him with a calm voice to settle and return to his seat. I watched his fury die down, and, finally, he righted his chair and sat down, not forgetting to glare vehemently at me. My mother turned towards me.

"Dimitri, you must trust we know what's best. She will make an exceptional ruler-"

"Exceptionable, you mean." I say, my eyes flickering over to a newly understanding Mariella.

My mother gave me a hard slap on the cheek. "You will show respect, Dimitri. This young hybrid may be the answer to all of our current situations, including your own predicament with finding a partner. You will accept her graciously."

Mariella spoke up, her eyes wild. "Whoa, hold up. I am…" she swallowed as if choking on an unappetizing glass of wine. "flattered…that you hold me to standards of becoming a ruler over…" She paused once again, muttering to herself "just say it, just say it." "That you hold me to standards of becoming a ruler over, well, let's just face it, lunatics, but I would very much like to not so politely decline. Frankly, if I were stuck on a deserted island, population me and your son, I would not repopulate the earth with him. I would not live with him. And I would definitely not marry him." She stood up, raised her chin higher, made a slight adjustment to her posture that no human eye could have caught, and strutted out of the room like a female peacock strutting in front of many male suitors.

"You did not let me finish, Dimitri. It is merely a suggestion." My mother said, the anger dwindling in her eyes.

Giuseppe muttered to no one in particular, "She's ravishing. Truly perfect for the position."

I groaned and rubbed my temples. This was not happening.

_**~Mia~**_

That had not just happened.

Had that just happened? It couldn't have. Had Dimitri's parents really proposed to me…for him?

I splashed cold water over my cheeks multiple times before hurriedly squirming into a workout outfit and sprinting down to the gym.

I didn't even want to stretch, but I knew I ought to, so I quickly ran through the routine before hopping onto the beam. The moves that I normally would have deliberated trying, I now did without a thought.

The beam wasn't enough. I ran over to the floor, where I madly went through my routine over and over again, turning up the music so loud, I couldn't feel my heartbeat, but rather the bass in the music.

It could have been hours or days later, but my body realized I was parched before I did, and, halfway through my routine, I slumped to the floor out of exhaustion. Dragging my body across the floor, I crawled over to my water bottle on raw elbows.

The water gurgled down my throat, and, for a moment, I felt okay. But a moment later, a ghost of the pain reappeared as a dull throbbing in my throat. I guzzled more water, shook the feeling away, and stood up once again to repeat my routine.

A figure in the mirror that ran across the wall surprised me as I went for my backwards aerial, and, before I knew it, I had stepped out of the boundaries, which would have cost me a higher score.

I stared at him as I shook out my arms. He returned the gaze, smirking. "What do you want?" I ask, putting my exhausted arms on my hips.

He was magically standing in front of me, as if he hadn't been six feet away. I tried to keep the surprise off of my face. It immediately came back when he tugged on my arm. "Hey! Let go!" He continued to walk. Right as we exited the gym, I yanked as hard as I could on my arm, and I managed to pull it away from him. I also managed to send him crashing into me, and we both toppled over.

Out of breath, I looked up to see him looking down at me, his face approximately four inches away from mine. He grinned. "This is a lover's position."

I tried to roll him off of me. "Too bad you're not attractive." He smirked down at me for a long enough time that I started to squirm. "Seriously. Get off."

He gazed at me for a moment longer before standing on his own two feet in another rapid movement, and managing to pull me up with him.

"I don't understand how you move so quickly." I mutter, more to myself than him. He gave me an exasperated look.

"I'm a vampire. It's my nature to move at an impossible speed."

I scoffed. I didn't even want to justify that answer with words anymore. "So where are you so rudely taking me?" I asked him.

Beginning to walk with me in tow, he replied "To see someone."

That wasn't a very helpful answer. "For what?"

"For an appointment." He replied curtly.

"An appointment for?" I urged.

"A tattoo."

I stopped. "Excuse me?"


	10. Chapter Nine :Becoming Royalty:

_Short chapter, I know. But I updated quickly! I am officially on break from school, so I am hoping to get more chapters posted…and more reviews? Come on, I mean this is pretty pitiful. I know the previous version of the story had a lot of fans, but I truly think this one will (and already is) better. _

_ The next chapter should be much, much longer than this one. So, maybe by the end of this chapter, you guys will know where I'm heading with the next one. _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Nine_

_**~Mia~**_

He tugged rather harshly on my wrist again. "We're going to be late if you don't reform a brain within the next couple of seconds." He growls.

"Why am I getting a tattoo?" I asked him rather wearily. "I don't want a tattoo. Well, I mean, I do, but I don't want to get one because I am forced to get one. So, I don't want a tattoo." I spoke in a rush, meandering through my thoughts aloud.

Rather than answering my question, he scooped me up into a piggy back position and ran at a speed I couldn't comprehend. What was worse than being on top of him, though, was how nauseated I was getting. Luckily, within a few seconds, he was setting me down in a completely different room that I hadn't seen before.

"Whose room is this?" I asked, eyeing the bed cautiously.

"Mine." He replied gruffly. A man who I hadn't seen in the corner chuckled. I spun around.

"You're Mariella, I presume." He says, standing up and stretching out his legs in a way that was very much feline. "Matthew Ghoutier. Very nice to meet you."

"I presume you believe you are a vampire too, don't you?" I ask, ignoring his outstretched hand.

Matthew laughs. "You were most certainly right, Dimitri. She is very obdurate."

"Shall we continue with the process?" Dimitri says somewhat impatiently. Matthew laughs.

"Come, sit, sit, my dear." Matthew says, outstretching his arm towards a stool set up in front of a large desk, which had stacks of binders and papers spread out across it. "Do you know what you have in mind for your design?" He asks me, taking a seat on a stool next to me.

"I don't even know what all of this is for!" I cry, frustrated.

Matthew turns his gaze on Dimitri. "You have not yet told her?"

"I thought it better you explained." Dimitri replied swiftly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

Matthew sighed. "Fine, fine. You must learn how to fend better, my boy." He turned his attention to me. "Every member of the royal family has a tattoo. It is a way of, oh, say, claiming your royalty. Every tattoo has a similar baseline design that is obvious, but then each tattoo is personalized."

"I'm not royalty," I say, unconsciously scrunching up my eyebrows in confusion.

Matthew's eyes twinkle. "I, along with the members of the royal family, are rather convinced you will be soon enough." I scoff.

"You seem like a kind man, Matthew, but I do not want to rule over your colony of crazies. It's just not what I aspire to be in life."

Matthew let out a guffaw. "You are a kick, my dear. Truly wonderful. Splendid!" He wiped his eyes and regained his composure.

"Why can't I get this tattoo after-if-I become royalty?" I ask.

"It's much harder to penetrate our skin with a needle." Dimitri explains. "It will be more productive."

"Let me show you the basic design," Matthew says. "It's a very unique one." He flipped open a binder and pushed aside many laminated pages scrawled with ink designs. Immediately stopping the mad flipping, he turned the binder towards me, pointing his finger towards the page which held the whole tattoo. It was large.

"Oh, hell," I mutter. "That's large."

"It does not have to be that size," Matthew reassures me.

It was a long humerus bone from which two droplets of blood fell. It was deadly and elegant, and so terrifyingly beautiful in its simplicity, I was taken aback.

"Dimitri, I feel it would be very much helpful if you would show Mariella your design." Matthew says, leaving the binder in my lap and swiveling my stool towards Dimitri. I looked up to a bare-backed Dimitri. On his right shoulder blade was the humerus, long and black, with the red droplets falling down his torso. Atop the humerus was black smoke, which slowly coiled itself into words. _Amor est gravi mentis morbo-Plato. Omnis argentum oblinit habet nubes-Mary Kay Ash. Positionibus specula mentis-David Joseph Schwartz. _The words formed up and over his shoulder and coiled once around his arm.

"Will you be done staring within the next century? I do have other matters to attend to." Dimitri scrutinized me, pulling me out of my trance of his insanely attractive muscles as he tugged his shirt back on.

"I know what I want," I said, swiveling my chair around towards Matthew. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Really? That was very quick. Are you positive you do not want to look through the books?" Matthew asks me.

"I'm positive." I tell him. As I start to describe to him what I have in mind, he begins to sketch, and I see my creation take shape in a beautiful form. We must have sat there for an hour, me talking and he sketching. When it was done, he revealed it to me. I was completely satisfied.

"Let me see," Dimitri says, standing up from the edge of his bed. I hold the sketch pad tight to my chest.

"No. You can't see it, at least not until it's on my skin." I tell him.

"I insist." He begins, his eyes growing darker.

"I insist you don't." I tell him, standing up from the stool. We stood in opposition. Matthew laughed.

"Dimitri, give the girl what she wants. You certainly can wait a few weeks until it is done: you have eternity stretched out in front of you." Dimitri whipped his head towards Matthew, glaring, before he backed away towards his bed.

"Would you like to begin today or tomorrow, my dear?" Matthew asks me, slowly prying the sketchpad out of my hands.

"Today. Let's get this over with as quickly as possible." I tell him, taking a glance at my design one last time. It was an ornate water fountain surrounded by an oddly shaped pond. The neck of the water fountain was the humerous, which had a saying carved into it, and, mixed in with the falling droplets of water, were large, tawny feathers and rose petals that fell down into the water beneath. It was my design.

"Where shall it go?" Matthew asks me.

"My neck. I want the sprouting water higher than the neck of the fountain, and the droplets will be on my neck. It will work vertically down from there."

"That is very much due able. I will begin with the base of the structure today."

I went into the bathroom to take my shirt off and put a robe on backwards, so that Matthew could get to my back. When I emerged out of the bathroom, I saw a large examination bed in the room, which I laid down on.

Dimitri was flipping through the channels on his plasma screen which was strategically up in the corner. I saw The Big Bang Theory on and insisted he kept it there. He rolled his eyes but turned up the volume as he handed the remote over.

As Matthew wiped my shoulder blades down with sterile cotton balls that were icy from the liquid, I turned my head to the side to focus on the T.V. I couldn't believe I was getting a tattoo. A tattoo!

I feel Matthew put the stencil on my back after hearing the snap of latex gloves. "It may tingle a bit, okay deary?" He says. I nod my head, because words wouldn't come out of my mouth.

The faint humming of the little needle drummed through the room, filling my ears. I turned one desperate look at Dimitri, but he was focused on the place where my robe had fallen down, exposing more of my chest than I was comfortable with. I yanked the side of the robe up, which immediately got his attention back to my face. I scowled and turned back towards the T.V. as Matthew brought the needle down to my back.

_**~Katy~**_

"Jeanelle, have you seen Mia at all this week?" I ask her as I bound up besides her, my book bag jostling between my shoulders.

Jeanelle shakes her head, her wavy almond hair swaying from side to side.

"No. I start to worry, though. She hasn't answered her phone in a while."

"Well, we're her friends. I say we get to know where she is."

Jeanelle clutches her large stack of books to her chest tightly. "I don't know, Katy. I think we should just leave it alone. She'll be back."

I could see the doubt in Jeanelle's face. "Nooo, I don't think that's it." I think aloud.

I turn to face her. "Jell, come on! We'll just drop by her house after school and ask Charlotte."

Jeanelle tucks her face behind her thick hair.

"Jell!" I whine, tugging on her agate blue sweater. "It'll just be like we are going over to her house. Nothing much. It's like the time you forgot your pajamas at her house when we slept over when we were thirteen, remember?"

Jeanelle peaks through the curtains of her hair. "You still remember that."

I throw my hands up in the air. "Of course! Now, will you _please_ come?"

She sucks in whistled breath through her teeth. "Fine," She says in resignation as she squeezes her eyes shut.

I squeal and throw my arms around her. "Thank you thank you thank you!" I chant.

She cringes at my touch, but gives me a hug back.

The bell rings, so I leave Jeanelle standing in the hallway as I skipped off to class.

_**~Mia~**_

After checking over the beginnings of the design a few times, Matthew lightly patted my back with a cloth and gave me the okay to leave. Dimitri had sat there through three episodes of The Big Bang Theory and Sheldon's quips, which, when I laughed at, he offered me a sidelong glance.

I nearly sprinted from the room. I felt incredibly energetic. My back didn't hurt; rather, it felt alive and tingling. Matthew would continue the tattoo every day until it was finished, and I couldn't wait for tomorrow.

Cartwheeling and backhandspringing down the halls, Dimitri watched me somewhat bemusedly. "Feeling alive, I can safely assume," He addressed me, his accent looping through his words as he gave me a toothy smile.

"It's like…Well, I don't know what it's like." I tried to explain to him breathlessly. "Like I could just conquer the world!"

As I was turning away from him, he grabbed my wrist. "You could conquer the world. If you joined me and my family, you would own the world. It would be at your fingertips." He looked at me earnestly. I watched his lips move, and the four o' clock shadow that he had growing, which really made him look attractive. I couldn't stop looking into his eyes and at his mouth.

"I don't want to rule." I said, but it sounded more like a question.

He laughed and dropped my wrist. "Already being convinced? That's quite a good sign."

I smacked him with an open hand. "Don't do that to me again."

He looked at me in bewilderment for a split second before turning furious. "You do not tell me what to do, human," He hissed. "I am your master. You do not get to hit me." He grabbed both of my arms. I quickly brought up one of my legs and kneed him where it counted. He fell to the ground in pain, and I took off at a sprint towards my room.

Right as I slammed the door shut, I heard thudding against the door. I quickly turned the lock and pushed the desk against the door. I then proceeded to close and lock all of my windows, including the door opening to my small circular balcony.

"Open the damn door!" He shouted. I could almost feel the fury radiating off of him.

"No!" I scream back.

He pounded on the door again and again, willing it to open, but he didn't have the acclaimed 'vampire' strength to break it down. I could hear him pacing outside of my door before punching it one last time so hard that I could see the indentation of his fist before I heard no more noise again.

I fell back into my bed. This was a nightmare.

_**~Dimitri~**_

This was not the first time I hadn't been appreciative of the protective doors Father had installed for the security of the residents within the castle. It was the only kind of wood and metal combination vampires couldn't break through easily. Even I had trouble with it, and I was royalty. Fucking royalty! She was not allowed to treat me the way she was carrying out. If anything, the roles should be reversed. She should be the one banging on my door, but not to kick my ass. She should be banging at my bedroom door for sex or something like that. She should be the hopeless one, the servant. Not me. I was royalty. The future heir to the throne! She did not have that authority, the idiotic hybrid.

I decided to try her balcony. Running outside at a pace that human eyes couldn't even follow, I jumped up onto the balcony and tried the doors to see she had locked them. I jumped down, picked up a rock, and threw it as hard as I could into the surrounding woods. Why was she so fucking difficult?

I turned back towards the doors to see her standing there smugly, hands on her hips. I stared back at her, dumbfounded. How could she look so calm and collected when she was going up against the heir to the throne?

"Unlock the doors." I told her through the glass, desperately trying to stay calm.

She tapped her foot. "If I unlock these doors, do you plan on touching me in any way? That includes strangling."

I turned around angrily, unconsciously ran fingers through my hair, and faced her once again. "No," I managed through grit teeth. "I will not strangle you."

She scrutinized my face for a moment before cautiously turning the lock on the door, her eyes on mine the whole time. She swung open the door and stepped away.

I walked in slowly, not exactly sure why I was in here if I wasn't going to hit her. She sat down, folding her legs into pretzels on the bed before returning her gaze to me. "Well?" She asked. "You're in here. What do you want?"

"There's a gala in two evenings. You will be my escort, and if you are going to be seen with me, you need to look beyond stunning." She stared at me with a "so what" look on her face.

"You have to get a dress. Your two clothing maids will bring up a rack of attire for you to choose from. This is an important gala, so if you pull one of your stunts there, I will rip your head off, no compromises. Just because I allow you to horse around privately does not give you the authority to defy me in public. Am I understood?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever." Instantaneously furoius, I was on top of her in a millisecond, pushing her completely down on the bed. "No. I must be completely understood." She looked up at me, breathless because I had knocked all of the air out of her lungs and momentarily stunted her diaphragm.

"Alright," She said, looking up at me earnestly. I nodded slightly in satisfaction. It wasn't until a few moments later that she was fidgeting because I was staring at her…and still straddling her.

I quickly pushed myself away and unlocked her bedroom door, swinging it open and striding out. I heard her let out a long breath as I walked away.


	11. Chapter Ten :Perfection:

_So, a super long chapter! This one took so long to put together…you should all be proud of me. Legitimate hours going into this chapter. _

_The Point of View switches often in this chapter, and it goes back/forward a few hours a couple of times, so don't be too confused, please. : )_

_I hope that everyone is satisfied with this super long chapter, because school starts tomorrow, which means I will be updating less frequently. Don't worry, though. I am going to try to update as much as possible!_

_Please enjoy!_

_-Ace_

_Chapter Ten_

_**~Dimitri~**_

"Ella!" I growl through the hallway as I stride down it towards the infirmary. "Get your ass out here, human!"

The southern nurse with cherry red lips swings out of the infirmary casually. I could see the amusement in her eyes.

"Now Dimitri," She drawls. "You know that if ya want to see me, all ya have to do is get injured." She opens her mouth in a small round O and winks at me.

I roll my eyes. "Where's Violet?" I ask.

She squints her eyes in thought before placing her hands on her hips and balancing her light weight onto her left leg.

"Hrm. Got to say I don't know."

I suppress a groan of frustration. I couldn't find Mariella's maid anywhere in the house.

"Oh!" Ella sticks a finger up in the air, dragging me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I ask.

"Have ya checked Jer's room?" She asks me.

I felt like banging my head against a steel wall. Of course she was in there.

Ella smiles.

"Thank you, Ella. I didn't even think of that." I say as sincerely as I can.

"I do what I can." She says and turns away.

I quickly make a decision to have some fun with her.

"Ella?" I call softly, letting a risky tone creep into my voice.

She turns around. "Hm?" She says, a hand still on one of her hips.

I gait over towards her and loop my arm around her waist. "Do you have any guests in the infirmary?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. It's been pretty quiet around here, actually."

I nod my head, pretending to be deep in thought. "My, won't you be bored today then, you poor little thing?"

She nods her head. "Some days. But I can organize the cabinets and medicine."

I pull her closer towards me. "Or…"

She raises an eyebrow, catching on. "Or…?"

I lean in fiercely and kiss her as she wraps her arms around my chest and parts her mouth open.

"Our secret," I murmur sexily against her lips. She chuckles as I swing her up into my arms and bring her into the infirmary, locking the door behind us.

I swing her down on one of the beds and crawl on top of her, sliding my hands under her shirt and taking it off easily. She fumbles with mine, but I quickly slip it off.

I touch her chest lightly and she moans as I take off her scrub pants. I then take off my silk black pants.

I kiss down her neck, nibbling the skin on her neck.

She nods her head enthusiastically, informing me that I can bite her.

I bite down hard and she moans. I clamp my hand down on her mouth and she bites down hard on my hand. I chuckle.

I drink for a long time before letting her go.

She smiles hazily and mumbles, "Mmmm."

I slip my finger along the rubber band in her underwear, teasing the edges.

"Noh," She mumbles incoherently.

I laugh. "Yes."

She tries to push me off her, but I hold my position on top of her.

She shakes her head, trying to clear the fog away from being bitten. She soon gets control of herself once again.

"Dimitri, no." She says firmly and pushes against my chest with all her strength.

"Why?" I murmur into her ear. "I'll be gentle."

"It's not about that. I know you're just doing this to get a distraction. Go deal with your problems somewhere else."

I grunt and hopoff her, slipping on my pants and buttoning up my shirt quickly.

An idea hatches in my mind. "Ella, would you like to be immortal?" I ask.

She stares at me. "If it was offered to me."

I walk back over to her. "It's being offered right now. I would bite you, I would make you royalty."

She purses her lips. "Why would you make me royalty? You can just hold back the venom to make me powerful, you know."

I run a finger down her chest. "I know. You can have all of this," I gesture towards my immortal body. "All the immortality and power, in exchange for one thing."

She raises an eyebrow. "What's the catch?"

I trace the outline of her underwear. "Just a little time with me," I say, a dirty glint entering my eyes.

I can see her eyes waver. I knew she didn't want to sleep with me, but she wanted immortality.

Her heart flutters loudly in her rib-cage. I laugh and flatten my hand against her breast, feeling the pound of her heart.

She snaps out of the trance and pushes my hand away, shaking her head. "Dimitri, you're really that desperate for sex? Just go to your new human."

I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose and squeezing my eyes shut. That was exactly who I was avoiding.

"Get dressed," I order in a gruff voice before stalking out of the infirmary.

How stupid was I?

More than stupid, that was for sure.

_**~Mia~**_

My eyes flew open when I heard the door open. I was ready to defend myself from _him,_ but Jade and Alea walk in with a rolling rack of dresses.

"What are you doing?" I say, rubbing my eyes.

"Getting your clothes ready!" Jade says cheerily.

"For what?" I ask.

"The gala!" Alea says happily. "Dimitri told us to make you look 'more than rags' this morning, so we are going to make you look better than him!"

I snort. "Well that won't be too hard." I paused. "Wait, that's today?"

Jade laughs. "No, it's tomorrow. Get up. We need to see which dress looks the best on you."

I eye the rack they are resting their arms on. "All of those dresses?" I ask, astonished.

Alea nods. "Yep! So get up!"

I cross my arms and legs. "No, way too many clothes."

Jade sighs and walks over to me before grabbing my elbows and hoisting me up.

"Oh!" I gasp as I wobble on my feet. I glare at Jade when I can stand properly.

"Let's start with the red ones." Alea says.

I put a hand up. "Wait. Which one of you is the hair person and who is the clothing?"

"Clothes!" and "Hair!" Is shouted at the same time. I assume that Alea is the clothes and Jade is the hair.

I nod my head and put my hand down. "Okay, let's get this bloody torture over with."

Alea strips off my clothes in a hussle and pulls a dress over my head.

I barely have time to get it on before Alea and Jade are inspecting me.

"The rubies are a little too 'poppy' for her eyes," Alea comments.

"A classical half-bun half-down curled would work," Jade says, walking over to me and checking the tag in the back of the dress to see the name. She quickly scribbles down something on a yellow note book.

Alea hurriedly pulls the dress over my head and sticks it on a hanger before throwing it onto my bed. A new red dress is shoved towards me, and I fumble to find the sleeves.

I liked this dress more. It had red fluorescent sleeves the tumbled over my arms and the silk hugged my body tightly. The v-neck cut accented my chest well.

"I like it except for that seam on the right side. It makes her butt look huge." Alea says, her face scrunching up in thought.

"Curled high pony-tail would work fine." Jade says, once again checking the brand of the dress before furiously scribbling down something else on the note book.

The dress is off me in a second as another one is being slipped on me.

It went like this for hours, Jade and Alea scrutinizing the dress and my hair before shoving another dress my way. I stood there silently like a mannequin the whole time as I stared at myself in the mirror for the few seconds I had to examine myself in the dress.

At what I guessed was three hours through the out-fitting and we were moving onto the yellow dresses, I interrupted. "I need to use the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Jade nodded absentmindedly and turned to her sister to discuss what dress looked best so far.

I scramble towards the bathroom and lock the door, sighing as I slump against it. My legs ached from standing still so long, and my arms were burning from lifting them up and down so frequently. I had never even dreamed that choosing outfits could be so tiring.

I stand up slowly and spin the faucet to let some cold water trickle. I splash it over my face soothingly before lathering my hands in lavender soap. I wrung my hands for minutes on end, just standing there, watching the water fall down to splatter against the bowl-shaped sink.

A furious knock sounds against the wooden door. "Mia, come on. We are only halfway done." Alea's voice wavers over to me. I am shocked by the formal tone in her voice.

I sigh and dry my hands on the black towel before stepping out of the bathroom.

Another estimated three hours of trying on dresses.

_Fun. _I think sarcastically.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I slam my bedroom door behind me, kick off my custom made Italian leather shoes in the corner and sit on the lid of my coffin.

I felt like smacking myself. Ella? I had stooped that low?

I was surprised and infuriated at myself. The news would soon be around. Ella's cherry lips couldn't seal tight a word.

"Shit!" I groan and punch the silky interior of the coffin. This cross-breed captive was making me insane. I did not want to say her name.

Everything about her made me insanely tense and aware of my surroundings. She was so…..beautifully infuriating. Her face, her body, her attitude, her passion, her _blood…._

I groaned and stopped there as my fangs slid out and over my bottom lip at the thought of her blood.

If I slept, maybe I would wake up from this nightmare.

I quickly unbuttoned my shirt (for the second time that day), threw it on the bed, and slipped inside my coffin to sleep.

Maybe she would leave.

_**~Violet~**_

I ran my fingers over the dress I was wearing for the gala tonight. It was a midnight blue that had thick noodle straps to hold it up. The V-neck cut in the front was a little too low-cut for my liking, but I would deal with it. In the back, the noodle-straps criss-crossed down my back, since the rest of the back was open until my waist. From there down, the dress was seamed into inconsistent fringes that fell down the dress to my middle shins. The silk bodice was a slightly darker shade of blue.

It was a pretty dress. Tearing my fingers away from it, I forced myself to go visit Mariella. It was already 7:40 a.m. The Twins are going to kill me as it is. She was supposed to be up at seven. I ran to her room.

"Mia. Mia!" She jolts awake, jerking her head forward to hit me square in the jaw.

"Shit! What the hell, Mia?" I exclaim, rubbing my jaw. She stares at me angrily.

"Why the hell did you wake me up?" She asks, glancing over to the clock in disbelief. "It's 7:45! I need my sleep, Violet!"

"The gala is tonight," I say cheerfully, still fingering my jaw. "We need to get you ready."

She groans. "What time does the bloody thing start?"

"7:30 P.M." I tell her.

It's her turn to drop her jaw. "You….woke me…..up….twelve hours before….?" She leaves the sentence hanging.

"The early bird gets the worm." I say, turning away to look for her clothes.

Mia fumes. "The moist, yucky worm with rabies!"

I ignore her remark. "There is so much to do and so little time. Get your dress out and ready."

"You have twelve fuc…."

I cut Mia off sharply. "You have to watch your mouth today, especially around other vampires. Not all of them are as patient as Dimitri."

Mia snorts. "Dimitri is one of the patient ones? Oh, well that's good to know. He's the calmest they get."

I looks at her seriously. "Really, Mia. They will tear your head off with a quick snap and you won't see daylight again. They are really fast. I mean, _really _fast."

Mia raises an eyebrow curiously. "You speak from experience…?"

I feel my face bloom with embarrassment. "Just get up." I tell her, avoiding her eyes.

She sighs and drops her feet to a floor with a loud "thunk."

"Get your dress out," I tell her.

She grabs it out of the closet and hangs it on a doorknob before extracting some red strappy stilettos from the bottom shelf. Then she stalks into the bathroom, slamming the door.

"Violet," She calls.

"What?"

"I need a strapless bra." She says timidly.

I pause. "Don't you have some in the drawer?"

"No strapless ones."

"I'll be right back," I call to her before racing out of her room. I hear her sigh beyond the bathroom door.

_**~Mariella~**_

I sigh and hold the dress up to my body. It looked decent, but it wasn't my first choice.

Alea's voice rings through my head.

"_It's perfect!" She exclaims, clapping her palms together as Jade smacks her lips. _

"_What to do with her hair, though?" She says, tapping her cheek with her long, spindly forefinger. _

_Alea shrugs and examines me proudly. "You're so pretty in that dress," She murmurs. "Almost one of them." _

_I don't understand her last sentence, so I shoo it away with my hand. _

_Jade gasps, filling the silence I had created. "I know what to do!" She claps happily and pulls me towards the bathroom to spin me down onto the closed toilet lid. _

"_Watch this." She says, spinning the upper layer of my hair into what I supposed was a bun. _

"_Turn around, Mia." She says. I swivel to stare into Jade's wide eyes. _

"_If we framed those last two strips of hair to frame her face on each side, it would look amazing." Jade said, sighing. _

_Alea agrees enthusiastically. "Perfect. Okay, Mia. That's all today. We'll be back tomorrow to get you ready!" _

_I groan and stand up, tugging my hair away from Jade's eager twiddling hands. _

Violet raps on the bathroom door, pulling me out of my thoughts. I hide myself behind the door but open it to see her holding a strapless bra in one hand. "Here it is. Just put it on now, and then go eat breakfast. After your shower, the Twins will help you get ready."

I nod and push the door closed.

"I'll meet you in the kitchen," She says before drifting out of my room.

I slip on a shirt and slide on some slippers that I had found beside the bed. Sighing, I walk through the halls towards the stairwell to join Violet and most likely Dimitri for breakfast.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I was sipping lightly from the wine glass when Mariella came strolling in, dressed in a casual tight t-shirt and some sweat pants. She stood silently by a corner of the long, old wood table, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Take a seat." I say to her, not looking up from the rim of the clear glass. I hear her swiftly pull out a chair, smoothing her pants with her hands before taking a seat directly across from Violet.

A drop of my drink started to spill over the thin rim of the glass. I swiped my finger around the circular rim before sticking it in my mouth quickly, sliding the drop onto my tongue. Mariella watches me with disgust and what I assumed was a small hint of fascination.

We sit there in silence, myself drinking, her sitting in the chair silently, knees tucked up to her chin and her arms wrapped around her knees.

She breaks the silence. "Well?"

I turn my head towards her questioningly.

"I was told this was breakfast. Am I going to be fed?"

I hold back a chuckle. What a humane question.

"Cynthia!" I call loudly through a monitor that was crafted into the table. "Our human guest is hungry. Could you make some eggs and pancakes?"

"Yes sir," Cynthia replies, her aging voice rambling through the speakers. "Five minutes, please, sir."

The monitor shuts off. Mariella sighs and rests her cheek on her knees. I return to my drink.

Her stomach grumbles hungrily every minute. I stifle my mocking laughs each time.

Her mouth doesn't make noise until the food came, when she muttered out what sounded like a mangled "Thank you" before digging into the plate stacked high with, fluffy, sugar drenched pancakes, scrambled eggs sitting on the edge of the plate. She had devoured them within five minutes.

I wait for her patiently to finish her meal. When she has sighed, wiped her face with a napkin and pushed the plate away from her, I begin.

"Tonight," I muse casually. I see from the brim of my eye a curved eyebrow raise.

"Tonight is the gala," I continue. I see her face drop. She obviously did not want to go.

"Since you are technically my human until your decision is made and agreed on, you will be accompanying me. You will behave, and dance, and act like a perfect maid would." I stood up out of my chair, pushing it away from the table to let me out before pushing it back in.

Mariella smiled a smile that I had never seen her wear before; a dazzling, half opened smile, her upper teeth showing in a perfect crescent bite.

"You see," She says, her voice filled with a guilty innocence. "However much we both want that," She pauses, her eyes flickering down to her hands before gazing back up with a vehemous sneer casting unearthly shadows at my face, all traces of the smile gone. "It won't happen. I'm human, I have my rights, and no way in hell will I ever be a maid for you. I wouldn't serve you for my life."

She slides the chair out aggressively, slamming it into the peeling old table before stomping out of the room.

"Humans," I mutter.

_**~Violet~**_

I sighed as a loose but rock solid pair of arms wrap around my waist. He kisses my cheek before nibbling on my earlobe.

"Hi," Jer says.

"Hey."

"You look beautiful in that dress." He says, moving one of his hands down to tease a ruffle on my thigh.

I swirl my hips subtly, watching the ocean blue dress wave at me through the mirror. He chuckles at my fascination.

Breakfast had been awkward. Dimitri kept a sly eye on Mia throughout the whole meal, and I did not speak a word.

"What will you wear?" I ask, trying to distract myself.

I see the sly smile that spreads across Jer's face in the mirror before only air hugs my waist, his arms gone. I see blurs of him in the closet, obviously gathering and changing his clothes.

He steps out in what I was sure was the least attractive and funniest suit ever made on the face of the earth.

It was a sleek black tuxedo that tore across his chest tightly, round, puffy cuffs sitting at the bottom of the sleeves. His pants were custom made with polished Italian leather shoes covering his feet.

All of this was fine. I didn't mind that at all. It was the back that made me burst out in fits of hysterics.

A little type of wisp was at the back of the suit, sticking out like what a butler would wear. The back flipped up like a little child's hair gelled up into a Mohawk.

I collapse onto the bed, gasping for breath when I hear a growl from in front of me, then a hard body come crashing down on me. The air knocks out of me.

I open my eyes to see Jer. I can see the mocking in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he speaks, but still, the trace of hurt I had caused was there. He couldn't hide much from me anymore. I knew him too well.

"What, don't you like my suit?" He asks foolishly. I raise my hand up and slap the tail of the coat down to his butt. He raises his eyebrows.

"That's how you want to do this?" He asks in a low, almost inaudible voice. I giggle like a young girl with a shiny red balloon in her hand.

He kisses me fiercely, only intensifying the kiss.

"We are still announcing our engagement tonight, yes?" He whispers against my cheek.

"Yes. Engagement that follows with many congratulations, mean glares from royalty, and a horrified Mariella. All the good stuff."

Jer groans. "Come on, Violet. At least _pretend_ like you're excited to be engaged to me."

I smile up at him and he laughs. "I love you," I tell him.

"As I do you."

~Mia~

I have five minutes to myself before Jade and Alea bang down my door.

"We have to get you ready!" Jade squeals.

"Why?" I groan, glancing at the clock. "It's, like, seven-thirty a.m! Why can't we start this around five? I don't take too long to get ready."

Jade sighs as Alea says "_You _don't take time getting ready. _We _do." It seemed like Alea was used to this phrase, almost like it had been recited over many times to different people.

"But the gala doesn't start until 7:00!" I yell exhaustedly.

"Precisely!" Jade says hysterically. "We barely have any time!"

My mouth drops open in disbelief. "I thought the vampire believers were crazy, but you guys…" I shake my head at a loss for words. "You two bring crazy to a whole new level."

Alea laughs but keeps her strained gaze on mine. "Come on, Mia. We have to get you ready and presentable. You know, eye candy for all the vampires there. Well, of course, even without looking good, you are irresistible to them." She chuckles. I only glare.

"Up up." Jade says, grabbing my hands in her smooth petite ones, tugging on them lightly to pull me up. I groan and tiredly throw my legs off the side of the bed.

"Okay," I groan. "Fine."

It was what I had expected.

Jade fiddled and tossed with my hair for an excruciating amount of time while Alea slipped the dress over my body and adjusted it for hours on end, mumbling to herself small criticisms. "That angle doesn't work" or "That sleeve is too high on her shoulder." She twitted around me like a hyperactive bird.

It was hell.

_**~Dimitri~**_

"Fix that cuff, son." Father says, pointing to my right sleeve which was slightly off around my wrist.

"Yes, father." I say casually, twisting the cuff back in place.

Father sighs. "No more of this 'father' business. You will address me like you would any other vampire. By my name."

"Giuseppe." I say formally, straightening my spine.

"There, son." Giuseppe says, hitting my back. "That is what a ruler should look like. Since you are so opposed to Mariella as a mate, try to find a lady at the gala tonight, yes?"

I nod. "I will try."

"Good man." He pats my back one more time before swiftly leaving my room.

I let out a large gust of breath from my living-dead lungs. I didn't want to find a mate. Why couldn't I rule our species alone? I had the potential. Everyone knew it.

After I took care of Mariella, I would find a mate. Maybe turn Elizabeth?

I laugh quietly. Maybe.

_**~Mia~**_

It dragged on endlessly. I would stare at myself in the mirror with a blank expression as the twins fiddled around me, trying to get my look perfect.

I knew it wouldn't work, though. I was as close to looking perfect as I could get about thirty minutes into the dressing.

Honestly, I thought I looked fine. The dress hugged me tightly and my hair would have looked fine down. But, from what I was experiencing, it seemed the twins were OCD when it came to their jobs. I guess I would be too, though. The lunatics were very precise.

When Dimitri entered the room, I tucked my face behind a curtain of my hair, staring down at my bare feet.

He didn't once talk to me. He addressed the twins, and when he talked about me, I was called "She" or "Her". I guess his words were proper grammar, but I did have a proper name.

I was relieved when he finally left. I was able to get my hair out of the glands in my mouth. I spit it out as if it were a vile poison.

"Mia, chill." Alea says quietly, chuckling with the dangling heart she had after Dimitri had snapped at her. "It's just hair."

Jade scoffs. "Just hair? Lea, that makes half the appearance!"

I see Alea roll her eyes through the mirror. "Okay, okay."

"How are we going to get Mia done by 6:00?" Jade asks under her breath.

Alea shrugs. "No up-hair, maybe?"

Jade stares at her sister like she was flying in mid-air. "Are you insane? We just had this discussion that hair assembles half the appearance!"

Alea lets out a huge breath. "We will both have to split some of our time, okay?"

Jade nods. "But at 4:30, I swear to everything I love that you better hand her over for hair."

"Jade-" Alea starts. I cut her off.

"I'm not an 'it', okay? I'm standing right here, listening to your whole conversation. Please, at least while I'm around, treat me like I'm actually living and breathing."

"Sorry." They murmur in synchronization. I nod appreciatively.

"Thanks."

I stood and they worked in silence for minutes on end, Alea flitting around me in circles to make sure she had all the angles and drapes and curves and fitting correct before I spoke again.

"What do you do to prepare my hair?" I ask, turning to Jade.

She smiles. "Well, first, we wash it. Then, I blow-dry five times through, brush, tease, put it up, and then spray in hairspray."

I eagerly looked forward to getting my hair washed.

_**~Violet~**_

I stared at the clock restlessly as I sat on my bed, trying to absorb myself in Othello. It wasn't working at all.

Time was mocking me. The seconds would tick away, taking me closer to my engagement announcement every time it sounded, but the minute would take years to change. I waited eagerly for the numbers to increase, but when it did, I didn't feel any closer. It just felt like I was waiting in a broken time.

4:29 disappeared. I looked around my small, plain room, trying to pass the time.

The four walls were made of cheap wood, paste white paint smeared over them. There were no windows; only five light-bulbs produced artificial light that hung from the ceiling. The twin-sized bed headboard was pressed up against the west wall. On the north wall, I had a personal bathroom, tub, and shower.

It wasn't bad for imprisonment. Most nights, I spent up in Jer's large room.

I remember the evening we first spoke.

_**"Oh! I'm so sorry, Sir." I stumble over my words, picking up the silver platter and the broken glass shards that were laying on the white tile, drenched in red blood and wine.**_

"_**I didn't mean to spill that all over you. Let me get the stain, please, sir." I say, trying to fix my fatal mistake. I was positive that a move like this and I would be dinner at the next gala. **_

_** "It's fine." He says, wiping his suede tuxedo jacket with a clean white handkerchief. **_

_**I stood up slowly with my platter of small glass shards to mistakenly look into his eyes. **_

"_**Hell," I think. "There is my death sentence. Right there." **_

_**Instead of glaring at me and immediately scheduling my death appointment, he smiles kindly at me. **_

_**I quickly realize that he is a vampire I had served before. **_

"_**Violet, correct?" He asks. His voice had a husky rust tone.**_

_**I nod lightly. "Yes sir."**_

_**He holds out his hand. "Jer. A pleasure to officially meet you. I have seen you attending to my chamber." **_

_**I hesitantly hold out my hand and shake his hard, smooth one. **_

"_**Would you like to dance?" He asks me, his eyes shining as he smiled. **_

_**I fight my jaw to stay closed. The vampire's king's eldest son was asking me to dance?**_

_**He understands my gaze. "I'm not trying to get you in trouble. Just a dance is all." **_

_**I snap myself out of it and take his arm as he leads us out to the middle of the ballroom. **_

"_**I-I can't dance." I mutter quietly, knowing he will hear me. **_

_**He chuckles. "Follow my lead and you will be fine." **_

_**I rested my hands on his strong shoulders as he put his hands on my waist. We swayed in a slow, methodic way before he spun me around. Too soon, the dance was over. **_

_**He kissed my hand gingerly. "It was a pleasure dancing with you." With that, he walked away, smiling. I swore I caught him wink over his shoulder at me as I watched him walk away incredulously. **_

I would have never guessed that in two year's time from then, I would soon be an immortal, like him, spending my eternal life with him. Fate had an ironic view of life.

I glanced over at the clock once again to see a shock. 5:00.

My eyes widened. Half an hour reliving the past. I guess it was a way of wasting useless time.

I hopped up out of bed, throwing Othello down onto the mattress and stepping into the cold sprinkling water of the shower.

I had to look presentable when Jer announced our soon to be eternity together.

~Mia~

"Too hot, too hot!" I whimper as Jade spins the hot water knob.

"I'm sorry, Mia, it has to be hot to get all of your dead hair and skin out of your scalp." Jade says sympathetically.

I suck in air through my teeth as I clench my eyes shut, trying to make myself adjust to the scorching temperature of the water.

"Could it be hotter?" I mutter.

"Much." Alea says. I can picture her lifting her hands up onto her hips.

My head is thrust down further towards the drain of the tub as the water seeps into my tangled hair and pours over my head. Jade artfully weaves her fingers into my hair, massaging my scalp. It would feel good if the water wasn't boiling.

Cold shampoo relieves the aching touch of the water. It's freezing for the first few moments until Jade scrubs it in my hair, turning the bubbles into warmth. I frown as the cold slips away.

"When will it be done?" I moan.

Jade groans. I imagine her rolling her eyes. "Mia, we haven't even washed out the shampoo yet. We still need to condition, moisturize, smooth, and shine."

I raise my wet eyebrows. "Is that even legal to do to hair?"

Alea giggles under her breath. I feel Jade's fingers slip out of my hair and I hear a small smack.

"Ow! Shit, Jade!" Alea whines sadly.

"You deserved it." Jade sounds smug.

"Guys!" I yell under the constant gurgle of the searing water. "Get over your problems right now, my scalp is about to melt and seep down the drain!"

I feel Jade's fingers weave back into my hair and rinse the rest of the shampoo out.

I feel a cold substance squirt onto my scalp once again. I assume it's conditioner.

"We only need the hot water for the conditioner, and then no more, okay?" Jade says.

I sigh in relief. "Good."

Jade goes through the motions of cleaning my hair as I stay crouched over the tub, my hair draping in front of my face so I can't see much but my dark wet, dripping hair.

The water shifts into an iceberg freezing. It feels awkward compared to the searing warmth, numbing my head a little bit.

It stays cold for two rinses, what I suppose were the "moisturize" and "smooth", before it warms up to a tingling heat that was in between the searing hot and dry-ice cold. It was soothing on my now water-tortured scalp.

I am incredibly relieved when the water stops dribbling down the sides of my face and Jade gives me the okay to lift my head up. With a jerk, I flip my head up and my hair goes over to my back, sending little sparks of water twirling through the air to smack onto any surface. Jade and Alea gasp in shock. I giggle quietly as I realize that my hair just pelted them with cold droplets of water.

"Why would you do that?" Alea asks.

I shrug. "That's how I flip my hair back when I step out of the shower. It's normal for me."

"I haven't ever had that happen to me, even when I am preparing vampires. And, I mean, they are super-quick, so…" Jade stops.

"Jade, you have to remember she is half-vampire." Alea responds to her sister.

"Oh, right. I totally forgot about that." Jade smiles.

I roll my eyes. Vampires didn't_ exist_.

Jade wrapped my hair up into a roll on the top of my head, shaking it in her hands before un-rolling it and starting the hair-dryer up.

It was boring to sit on a stool and watch yourself in the mirror as girls played with your hair this way and that. Time dragged on endlessly.

When my hair was combed out and dry, and Jade was twirling the outer-layer of my hair up into a small, tightly coiled bun, I spoke.

"What is the point of the galas anyways?" I ask.

Jade and Alea stare at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to me and shrugging in unison. "We guess it's just a chance to meet other vampires and flaunt how powerful you are." Alea says.

"Only powerful, wealthy vampires are invited." Jade adds.

"The families that are the highest of the highest." Alea states.

"Oh." Is all I can say. Jade smiles.

"It's not too bad. Just stick around humans, and you will be okay." Alea says.

I nod my head. There was so much stuff to do and not to do for a few meek hours.

Jade takes out a hair-straightener and plugs it in. It heats up within a minute.

I stare at my reflection as Jade curls in my side-bangs.

On the crown of my head sat a large coiled bun. It was so intricately wound, it looked like a flower and the small curls falling out of it looked like a trail of falling petals, metaphorically.

Alea clapped her hands together before she and Jade slapped their palms together.

They squealed in unison. "You're ready!"

_**~Violet~**_

6:15. I was ready with my satin, dark blue dress on, and my hair was wrapped into two low braids. I had brushed a shimmering blue dust over my eyelids, used a ton of black eyeliner for cat-like eyes, swabbed on mascara, and smeared on lip gloss.

I took in three deep breaths before walking towards my bedroom door to run straight into Jer's chest.

"Oh!" I gasp as I step away from him, fixing my dress and smoothing my hair to look up into his shining, gleeful eyes.

"Hi." He says.

I smile. "Hey."

He extends his hand. "Are you ready?"

I take another deep breath before taking his hand. "I hope so."

_**~Dimitri~**_

I paced around Jer's room as he stared at me, glancing at the clock every so often.

"Dimitri, it's 5:50. You better start walking over to grab your human."

I pound my fist on the dresser. "She is so infuriating! Why must she be? I hate her, she plants vile, putrid thoughts in my head!"

Jer laughs. "You are just how I was at first with Violet. Oh, little brother, you got it hard. Don't worry, she will mellow out and you will too."

I rush at Jer, grasping his shoulders. "Dammit, Jer! I don't want her!" I shake him roughly.

He just laughs harder. "You know you do, Dimitri, so just accept it. See how tonight goes, and we will see where you are."

I sigh and turn away from Jer, facing the wall. "She doesn't even believe we exist. She thinks we are just lunatics."

"We are, in a way." Jer says in a smart-alec tone. "But then again, everyone is."

"Shut the hell up, Jer." I growl.

Jer stares back at the clock. "Sorry, Dimi, I need to go check on some things before I go pick up Violet. We are announcing tonight, so I'm making sure everything is prepared."

I turn back to him, a faint smile setting on my lips. "Oh? Wonderful, Jer, wonderful. Really, I mean it."

He smiles. "I'm very glad that you are sincere about this." He stands up and clasps my shoulder. "See you there."

I nod. "Yes, of course." I watch him exit his room, leaving me standing in the middle of it.

What would happen with Mariella?

I wouldn't let her control me anymore. I was leading this game now, whether she liked it or not.

A smug smile sits on my lips as I stride out of the room towards her.

_**~Mariella~**_

When a faint knock rumbles on my door, Alea and Jade frenzy around me, making finishing touches on my outfit before scampering over to the door to reveal Dimitri.

I sigh, turning around to stare at him. His suit astounded me.

A black, tightly draped tuxedo clothed him. The black was so clean, it looked like it sparkled under my bedroom lights. His white buttoned shirt was clean and wrinkle-free, ruffled in the right places along his chest. His pants were black, also with creases folding through them. He cleaned up well.

He stared me over, his eyes drifting lazily over my body, which caused me to feel self-conscious about what I was wearing, even though at high school parties before this I had worn tighter, slinkier dresses. Something about his gaze was more intense, more mature, than the boys at the packed parties. I fix my posture to show him I was uncomfortable.

He got the hint, and immediately fixed his gaze to stare back up in my eyes as I walked over to him.

"You made her decent." He says, addressing the twins.

"Thank you." They say, trying not to beam.

Alea and Jade stood behind me. "Uh, Mia." Jade says. I turn around.

"We have to go. You know, get ourselves ready."

I nod. "See you there."

"Bye." They say together, slipping past Dimitri, leaving us standing there awkwardly, him on the outside of the frame and me safely on the inside.

He slowly extends his hand towards me, reaching through the doorframe. I cautiously take his arm instead and step out of my room, closing the door behind me.

We walk silently through the twisting halls towards the upper floor on which the ballroom inhabited.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dimitri eyeing me up and down. I pull in deep breaths as I imagined in my mind's eye what I was wearing.

The dress was a scarlet red, thin silk that was snug against my body. It had one thick noodle strap while my left shoulder was strapless as the material slanted down and twisted around my back, exposing both of my shoulder blades. Little ruffles cascaded down the base of the dress, flowing out in the tight fabric. The bodice tightened around my waist.

Dimitri shot me one last glance as if to ask "Are you ready?" before opening the large ballroom doors with a sweeping gesture, herding me into the large room with his other arm. I glance back at him before entering.

Turning my head back to the crowd of unknown average people and lunatics, I was infinitely grateful to Jade and Alea. They had dressed me so I would fit in, even with the beautiful lunatics.

Watching the swirling bodies twirl around the extravagant room, I realized that every lunatic that I saw was gorgeous compared to an average, everyday person. They were stunning.

As the pale faces turn by me in a blur, I looked back to Dimitri. His white rose petal skin looked water-kissed by the bright lights that were bathing the room. His deep onyx eyes were shadows seeking souls around the room restlessly. His deep sunset colored lips were in his normal pout. His dark brown hair was strewn over his face, giving him a brooding look.

He was beautiful, stunning, amazing, imaginary. All of the above. I couldn't describe the flawlessness that he was.

Well, that he appeared to be. His personality made up for that.

"What are you staring at?" He asks me, staring curiously back at me with his onyx eyes.

"You're allowed to eye-rape me the whole walk over here, but I can't look at you once without being chastised? I see how it is." I hiss.

He lowers a finger to my lips. "Watch how loud you are, all of us can hear you. And no profanity tonight, hm?"

"How could all of you hear me?" I hiss back at him, correcting my words.

He chuckles. "You seem to forget what we are. Heightened senses are part of the deal."

I roll my eyes. "_You _don't exist." I say, spitting venom at him and forgetting to lower my voice. Many pale, gorgeous heads turn our direction, eyes locked on my face.

Dimitri wraps his arm loosely around my waist.

"What the-" I start. His hand cuts me off.

His cold breath tickles my ear. "Watch your language, yes? We are supposed to be very close as maids and vampires go. You know, I am supposed to share the same sleeping space with you, you are supposed to prepare my dinner, and obey my every whim…" He trails off, humor thick in his voice.

I scoff, but keep silent as he leads us to the room. "Just be good." He murmurs once more before turning his attention away from me, although still keeping me close by his arm.

I was dragged by many people as he talked to them kindly. I guess that was understandable how people wanted to talk to him; he was heir to their throne.

"William, how nice to see you again." Dimitri plasters what even I can tell is a fake, plastic smile.

The "William" greets Dimitri the same way. "Yes, it's a pleasure." He extends his right hand, clasping Dimitri's elbow as Dimitri does the same to him.

William turns to look at me, smiling after a moment. "Oh, and is this the girl who has been top news lately? The half-and-half, as they call her?"

I stare at him skeptically, stifling a gasp when Dimitri pulls me slightly closer.

"Indeed." He says.

"Oh, my." William claps his hands together. "What a wonderful opportunity it is to finally meet you. And my, you just look like perfection." He picks up my hand in a blur, slowly planting a kiss on it. I retrieve my hand as quickly as I can. He smiles at me; that creepy smile that scary people gave you, warning you.

"And she serves you?" William says, eyeing Dimitri and I. He laughs, a dirty glint entering his already ruddy eyes. "And just how is she?"

I look up to Dimitri, who glares. I don't understand what he is asking until I put it into what Katy would call "That's What She Said" context.

I barf a little bit in my mouth, but gulp the bile back down, a shot of pain wavering through me at the thought of Katy. She and Jeanelle must be worried sick.

"Fine, just fine, actually." Dimitri says, hugging me closer.

William smiles at him before his gaze returns to me. "I'm sure she is." He muses.

Dimitri clears his throat. "It was wonderful seeing you again, William."

"Yes." William says as we turn away. "It was splendid."

When Dimitri and I are what I guess is out of earshot, I ask "Who is he?"

"I will explain later." Is all he says before letting go of me and murmuring "Enjoy the gala for a while. I will be back later to have a dance."

I nod and turn away from him, blindly staring into the crowd to try to find a familiar face.

I wander aimlessly through the throng of people and lunatics, finally stumbling by Violet. She was clinging onto Dimitri's older brother's arm.

"Violet!" I say, tapping her shoulder. She spins away from the brother to face me. Shock registers over her face.

"H-hi, Mia." She says, stuttering.

I eye her and Dimitri's brother. "What's going on?" I say slowly.

Violet stares at me wide-eyed, her mouth closed. "I-well-weIl-" She stumbles.

The brother turns around, weaving his fingers around Violet's as he turns to face me. At first, his face is one to fear; it was turned up into a sneer. Then, he seemed to recognize me and he smiled genuinely.

"Hello, Mariella." He says, a dazzling smile playing over his lips. "I'm Jeremiah, Dimitri's older brother."

"Nice to meet you," I say, smiling back at him. He was an upbeat and laughing person, I could tell. He was the first lunatic that I actually liked.

"Violet, we need to go towards the front." He says. "I am truly sorry for the short chat, Mariella. I will make it up to you in the future, I am positive. We must leave, Violet and I. I hope to see you soon." He smiles, and with that, drags Violet behind him as he walks towards the front of the room.

I nod, casting a confused look at Violet as she follows helplessly behind Jer.

I sigh, spinning around to face the exit.

_Maybe getting out of this room for a few minutes would help, _I think, walking towards the door.

When the large doors swing shut behind me, I sprint for the nearest bathroom, which is who-knows-where. It takes me endless tries and minutes to get there, but I'm relieved when I finally do.

I quickly lock the door and run cold water in the sink, letting the cool water run over me. It felt nice.

_What am I doing here? _I think as I wash my hands. _The normal Mia would be kicking and screaming and making a hell of a scene to get out of here. Why am I just sitting around? _

A crazy, spontaneous, and probably live-or-die idea pops into my head.

It was a gala. No one would notice me gone. I just had to sneak back through the halls, away from the ballroom and the gala, and then open the front doors and run home.

I could make it. I could if I tried. No one could stop me.

Ambition and adrenaline run through me as I turn the faucet off, fixing my dress and straightening my back.

I could get away.

A surge of joy rushes through me at an incredibly fast pace as I unlock the door and check the hallways.

Anger fills me as I remember that I have no idea where I was in the house, so I would have to wander for awhile. It was okay, though. I would be free soon.

~Violet~

Mia's confused, bewildered face kept flashing through my mind. Guilt gnawed at me, taking large bites out of my butterfly-filled stomach and nibbling at my legs so I was a little unstable standing. Jer's arm kept me standing.

"Don't worry, Violet. It'll be okay, just relax." He whispers into my ear, giving me a small kiss.

I nod and try to clear my head of the guilty fog swirling inside me. I shake Jer off lightly, murmuring something about grabbing a drink. He nods and releases his grip on me.

I saunter over to a refreshment table. There was some sparkling, bubbly water for the humans, which I eagerly took instead of the blood and wine mix.

The bubbles fizzed and hissed in my mouth, but I closed it to stop them from making too much noise. The strong, acidic drink brought the realization to me that I was incredibly thirsty. The sparkling water didn't quench my throat-scratching thirst; it intensified the pain.

I gulped it down quickly and blocked out the burning claws that were tearing apart my throat. Taking three deep breaths, I strode back over to Jer, who was speaking with some vampires who I recalled were very wealthy.

I wrapped myself under his arm, snuggling my nose into the soft, velvet smell of his clothing. He was startled by my change in mood, but I ignored his bewildered looks and stared at the vampires he was having a conversation with.

"You must be Violet." One says.

I nod fervently. "Yes."

"How nice to meet you." One standing by the other says.

"Please," I say. "The pleasure is all mine."

The music slows down and mumbles down into a low background sound as Jer smiles at me and pulls me up towards the front of the room with him.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Jer says, his voice ringing through the room with authority. "Thank you for joining us for this special gala. It is truly a pleasure to see all of your faces once again." Few vampires return Jer's welcoming smile. The butterflies quiver in my stomach.

Jer continues. "This gala is particularly important for one reason." He pauses, sifting his eyes over the full room. "I am taking this human, Violet Winters, to be my partner for eternity."

The crowd applauds. When the noise has died down, Jer starts again. "Does anyone oppose?" He scopes the room with a precise eye, searching for any sign of opposition at all. "None?" He asks. "Good."

"Our bind together will be discussed in the near future. Thank you, everyone. Enjoy the party."

With that, Jer kisses me swiftly, causing the crowd to burst into small 'awe's' and claps before he takes my hand and gently pulls me off the stage.

"You did great." Jer says. I laugh.

"You were the one talking."

"Nonetheless. A flawless pose on your part." He says, pecking me on the cheek and chuckling before turning around to be congratulated.

The rest of the gala was surprisingly easy and well.

_**~Mariella~**_

Adrenaline surges through me at an inconstant rate as I skidded to a stop every other turn. I was digging myself further into the mansion, I was sure. Violet had never showed me this part of the house. It was a 'vampire'-only zone.

I really wished that I could have gotten a tour of this section of the house. Escaping would have been so much easier and quicker.

I kick my body into overdrive.

My heart pounds in my chest as I sprint through the dark corridors. I now realize my life depends on whether I can find an exit through this maze.

"Keep going," I encourage myself in my head. I keep my labored breathing to a minimum noise of panting.

I can't let them find me. They will bring me back into the lovely room that serves as a prison cell. They will kill me.

My feet thud on the black, smooth carpet as I run. My breath is labored, but I keep it quiet. The only thing that was protecting me right now was that they were all at the gala. When he found out I had slipped away, he would be following my scent quickly.

My lungs scream in protest at the work, but I force myself to keep going. My strappy heels had been ditched a long time ago, but I could feel the blisters that had formed popping under every step.

"Mariella?" I hear an echo through the halls.

"Shit," I curse vehemously in my head.

My heart race picks up and I turn a left, then a right, nearly hitting a wall. I know he is behind me, but maybe if I take enough turns, he will get lost. I might be able to confuse him with my scent.

I turn corner after corner, sprinting and skidding every other heartbeat.

"Mariella, I can hear your heartbeat. It's racing, isn't it, my dear?" The voice is mocking now. I can picture him laughing, which only infuriates me. I push myself harder when I see a door placed at the end of the stretched hallway.

I run into it, turning the glimmering golden knob violently and sealing myself behind it. Once inside, I fumble with the lock. I know it won't help, but it may slow him down, even by a second.

Turning around, I see an outline of a chair against the darkness. A couch, a bathroom, a large bed…..

I make my decision quickly. I jog over to the bed, squeezing myself under it. Once I am under, I look up to see a small space where the wood has splintered in the frame. I crawl up into the hole, bunching my body together so that I wouldn't take up as much room. I try to slow my breathing down with the few seconds that I know I have.

I manage to stay silent as he squeezes the golden doorknob in his hands. I hear a crunch.

I hear the smile in his voice. "Mariella, my dear. Won't you come back to the gala? We haven't had a chance to dance yet."

I would have rolled my eyes if I wasn't intoxicated with fear.

Even though I can't hear him pacing around the room, searching for me, I still know he is there. If only he wasn't so quiet….

"Hmm. It seems that my faithful maid isn't in here." I silently hiss in frustration. He pauses. "How inconvenient."

I hear the door open and close, and I breathe out a small sigh of relief. Still, I know he knows that I am in here. He is just waiting outside the door to strike.

I decide to stay in the hole. At least for a half an hour.

I tremble violently, succeeding in hitting my spine against a plank of old wood. "Damn it," I mutter quietly.

I expected to hear a chuckle from the door, but none comes.

He would have chuckled. I know he would have heard me if he was standing outside the door. So, that means….he isn't outside the door. Or still in the room.

I let out a deep breath quietly as I slip out of the hole. I guess I wasn't staying hidden for a half an hour.

I drop to the ground on my hands and knees silently. Crawling out from under the bed, I twist my head in each direction to make sure he isn't in here. Once I'm sure he isn't, I squirm my way out.

I don't bother to wipe the brown dust off of my dress or my hands and knees. I don't care about that right now.

I just need to get out of here.

I walk on the balls of my feet over to the mangled door. I see he has carved the gold around his hand while breaking the lock. How did he do that?

I push my ear up to the door, even though I know I won't hear anything. Damn them for being so swift and silent.

I sense nothing, and I hear nothing.

"Here goes nothing," I think miserably in my head. Still, I had to try. I would rather die in an escape attempt than die from _them. _From _him. _

I grip my hand around the now de-formed golden doorknob, surprised to find that my hand fits the creases in his perfectly, only his were larger.

I twist it slowly, hoping it won't make any noise. It turns with ease. I peek through the crack in the door, searching for any of them.

When it's clear, I step out into the dim hallway. I turn left and start into a fast jog, making sure my feet don't make a sound.

The hallways all look the same; dim, only one light for every hall that sits on the left, black paint and black, machete carpet. This doesn't help my escape plan much.

I take lefts and rights, only hoping I'm getting closer to my destination. I stumble into walls at times, due to the lack of light.

I see a small sliver of light sitting at the end of a slinky hallway. I run towards it, knowing that it is the ebony black double doors that I have been searching for.

My heart beats rapidly. I am so close to escaping this hell. I can feel the iron handle in my smooth, peachy hand. I can see each dent and mark that is carved into the doors. I feel as if I'm in slow motion. My legs won't go fast enough towards the sweet moonlight that will set me free.

I'm only inches away as I reach out my hand, yearning to grasp the iron handle. My breath catches as I see _him_ blocking the doors, less than a second before I would have grabbed the handle. I run into him, my body crumpling up against his rock hard ivory skin.

I crumple to the ground, groaning as I curl into a tight ball. I clutch my ribcage.

He bends down, his cold, piercing mint breath sweeping over my face. "We still haven't had our dance."

I look up through teary eyes to see him smiling his dazzling white teeth. Only after my eyes adjust do I see the tiger teeth protruding from where his canines should be.

Fangs.


	12. Chapter Eleven :Under Cover of Night:

_So, it's been awhile, but in exchange, I gave you a pretty long chapter. I hope you enjoy it, but It's pretty hard to top the last chapter. That one will always be one of my favorites. _

_So, leave a review, tell me what you think? It would be great. I have time to answer some of the reviews, so I will. Just don't be too offended if I don't get to yours; I only have so much time in this crazy life of mine!_

_**Evangelinex17**__: I am so glad you both enjoy this story! I can't believe how many people actually read it; I didn't think it would be a big hit! There will be many more cliffhangers to come, but I agree that chapter ten definitely has one of the bigger cliffhangers. _

_**Heartbreak27: **__Well, it wasn't pronto, but here you go! I will be out of school in six weeks, and I will have much more time on my hands, so I hope to update more often. I'll still need these very helpful reminders, though!_

_**PrettyReckless102:**__ I like it! : ) By the way, if your username is based on the band pretty reckless, you should definitely check out the band "Oh Land" and their song "Perfection." That's where I got the name of this chapter, and if it were ever to turn into a movie, I would insist on that song playing. In answer to your question, I actually came up with her dress and hair in my head. I did look online JUST for YOU for examples, but nothing matched the images in my head. Typically, I leave the images up to the reader. : )_

_**Heather: **__I guess you'll have to wait and see what it means!_

_**Sunkissedvampirelover: **__I'm glad there is actually some truth to this story, then!_

_Please read and review, it would mean a bucketload of….awesomeness? to me! _

_-***Ace***_

_Chapter Eleven_

_**~Violet~**_

I shoveled down the eggs and toast that were on my plate, finishing it off with two large swigs out of the crystal glass of orange juice that was lain out in front of me.

"Later, Jer." I say, pecking him on the cheek before speed walking out of the room.

I nearly sprint through the halls towards Mia. I wanted to see how she was doing after the gala. She had seemed pretty happy when I had seen her, but that was before Jer and I had announced our engagement. I guess it would be time to explain.

I cut a quick turn after I passed through the foyer, running straight into Dimitri's black sweater covered chest.

"Ouf!" I groan, holding my ribcage instantly as I try to catch my breath. Dimitri just strides past me, not casting a second glance back while muttering something about incoherent humans.

I stare after him when I have caught my breath. I didn't know what was going on, but he was obviously having a bad day. I shook it off and closed the distance between myself and Mia's room.

I knocked once. "Mia? You in there?"

No reply came. I knocked again.

"Mia?" I croon.

Once again, there was no answer.

I quietly twist the doorknob, slowly opening the door as I walk into the room.

My eyes pop and my jaw drops like a heavy iron weight. "Mia?"

_**~Dimitri~**_

"Stop pacing so rapidly, brother." Jer says, hovering his arms above his head as he rests against the headboard of the bed. I growl, frustration pulsating through my body.

"How could she be so….so…." I stumbled for the correct word, avoiding Jer's sickly mocking gaze.

"So dimwitted?" Jer says, easily elucidating my point.

I nod. "I just don't understand it."

Jer smiles ruefully. "You don't have to understand, brother. Any female is a mystery."

"Yes, I agree indeed." I speak absentmindedly, my eyes replaying the image of Mariella in my mind.

Her auburn red-streaked hair glistened with sweat as it plastered to her forehead, splaying out around her. Her pine needle eyes widened in shock and terror. Her lips tightly pressed against each other into a hard line. Her frozen arms locked by her sides, like grenade pins. Her loose hips as I straddled her, keeping her down against the dark machete carpet. The erratic pound of her heartbeat, motoring in her ribcage. Her eyes, blooming with fear like blue azaleas in spring.

"What was I supposed to do?" I sigh. "She was running, and, hell, she almost made it."

Jer smirks. "Did you really have to straddle her waist?"

I growl at him angrily. He throws up his hands in mock surrender.

"So, I guess you believe now that she does have half-vampire blood?"

I swivel around as Jer asks. "Why would you think that?" I ask angrily.

"Well, if she almost made it to the door, she had to be pretty damn fast, and no average human can even get a quarter of the way there."

I chew on the thought, testing it out. It seemed to fit.

"Dammit," I mutter, poison dripping off my cursing lips.

I pace back and forth around the room silently while Jer leans back, watching me with light eyes.

Jer sighs after several silent minutes. "Dimitri, why won't you just accept that you want her?"

I spin on my heel quickly and fly over to Jer, my hand circling his throat. "I don't want her."

Jer lifts his eyebrows. "Right." He plies my fingers away from his chalky neck.

"Just think about it."

"It's just her _blood," _I sigh. "Nothing else about her is appealing to me."

Jer clasps my shoulder. "Sorry, brother. We both know you're lying."

I dropped my head into my hands, shaking it slightly. "It's just her blood. It's like smelling it for the first time." I say, my voice muffled in my hands.

I whip my head back to look at Jer. "Do you remember the first hunt?"

Jer nods, a confused expression sifting over his face.

I sigh lowly. "It's like that, but magnified by a thousand times."

I thought he would give me an irritating smile, but he thinks deeply, going into a tranquil mode of no motion and silence.

"That sounds horrible," Jer murmurs quietly after a while, still gazing at a certain part of the wall that was facing me. I turned to look at Jer.

"It _is_ horrible. Jer," I pause hesitantly. He snaps out of his trance to look at me, cocking an eyebrow in response.

"Jer-" I start, unsure of how to say what I was going to say. 

I take a deep, relaxing and completely unnecessary breath. "I went to Ella."

Jer stares at me, confusion muddling his features before understanding dawns over it. His eyes widen.

"And…?" He asks.

I shake my head in utter disgust and disbelief. "She stopped it. She realized how idiotic it was, and, however close we got, she stopped it. And even after she stopped it, I tried again at her in a matter of seconds."

"How did you try again?" Jer asks cautiously.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and run my other hand through my hair, tousling it. "I offered her immortality." I speak nasally, trying to mangle the sentence so that Jer wouldn't understand my words. I was positive the words were still clear to him.

His jaw twitches, suppressing what I supposed was a recurring spasm of jumps. His eyes are unreadable.

I stand across the room, facing my brother as he processes my idiocy.

After what seemed like a millennium, he spoke.

"She only has a month left to decide."

_**~Violet~**_

I pound furiously on Jer's door, my fists slamming against the hard ebony wood.

"Jer! Damn it, open the door!" I yell, pressing my ear against the wood as I pounded.

No reply.

"Jer!" I scream. "Open the damn door! I need to see that stupid son of a bitch brother of yours!"

A small tap on my shoulder sends me jumping three feet in the air out of my skin. I squeal and twist around in the air to see Zair standing with her weight balanced on one foot. Her arms akimbo, she gave me a stern look.

"So, then, I'm the 'bitch?'"

I blush dark roses. "N-no, no, of course not. I was just talking about Dimitri, ma'am."

Zair laughs and rubs my forearms. "Oh, dear, I was joking. Anytime. I know what you meant. My sons can really act like asses sometimes, can't they?"

I laugh, astonished at Zair, my future mother-in-law. It wouldn't be hard to get along with her.

Jer's door opens, pouring a tinted dark light into the hallway. Zair covers her eyes.

"I just woke up a little while ago, honey. I'll speak to you later, yes?"

I nod, and she smiles weakly before speeding away from the dim light.

Jer's dark, looming figure was pasted into the light as he stood in the doorway. I hugged him tightly and he returned my needed hug with a chuckle, kissing my forehead.

Dimitri stood behind him, arms linked behind his back as he watched Jer and I cautiously.

I detach from Jer, unwrapping myself from his safe embrace.

I stalked in a predator lumber towards Dimitri. He didn't give me a smile.

"Violet." He says blandly, nodding slightly.

We stand there in a motionless deadlock. Jer comes up behind me, draping his long arms around my shoulders.

We all stay silent, Dimitri staring blankly at me, myself glaring viciously at Dimitri, and Jer, protecting me from any harm by simply swooping me into his arms.

"Well?" Dimitri says finally, impatience radiating from him like radio waves.

I stare at him viciously, my gaze hardening.

"What did you do to her?"

_**~Mariella~**_

_ The handle winks in the dark, pretentious light. My hand, bright in the darkness, reaches up slowly to grab it. Only four inches away. _

_ I hear my heart pulsing through the ringing beat in my ears. It speeds up every moment. Three inches away. _

_ I kick my feet up behind me, launching myself towards the door with every bound. I struggle to keep my overpowering panting silent. Two inches. _

_ Only a step more of dark red carpet separates us. I yearn to turn the handle and bathe myself in the glorious, shining sunset light outside. One inch. _

_ Two hallways connecting into the one I was running through opened up. Dark, long, straight corridors on each of my sides, creating a three-way intersection. _

_ A heavy, solid mechanism slams into my chest, knocking me breathless onto the carpet. My head slowly falls against the floor, contacting with a sickly crack. My vision is black splotches. _

_ Something heavy is on my lower stomach. I wiggle, trying to squirm away. Two long, black things clamp my legs. _

_ I curl into a tight ball underneath the weight, groaning and mumbling incomprehensively. _

_ My sight returns as the splotches fade away. He is sitting on me, eyes gleaming with a deadly child's smile, "I told you so" written over their face. He leaned down, minty breath sweeping over my ears, chilling my whole body. _

_ "We still haven't had our dance." _

_ A shudder ripples through me like a balloon cord. Tears ripple down my red cheeks as I stare up at his dazzling, gleaming smile. _

_ It was the smile of a predator, teasing the helpless prey to run, play an amusing game of cat and mouse, maybe. It was all up to them. _

_ Freakishly long canines protruded from his gums unusually. They arced downwards, almost pressing against his tongue. They could kill with one swift swipe, like a viper could to a helpless, lost camper. _

I danced in and out between the dream world and reality, my eyes fluttering mercilessly.

A strangled grunt sounds through one of the worlds. I wasn't sure which one.

I fight desperately to wake up. I kick and flail around, swinging my limbs around the area of the bed.

_Black. Everything was black. The only things that weren't black were small swirling whirls of white, shining dust, cluttering around itself through the atmosphere. _

I stayed here for awhile, admiring the shimmering molecules. It was better than reality. No problems to deal with, no people, no anything. Just myself, the black, and the swirling forms.

"Mia?" A soft voice croons, snatching me away from the swirling white.

A light touch grips my shoulder. I slowly open my eyes.

Violet was watching me intently. I grunt and sit up, managing to bang my head against the headboard. Violet chuckles.

I rub my head.

"Hi," She says quietly.

"Hey." I gaze around the room, realizing it was the one I had been staying in for the past several weeks.

Violet watches me warily, following my face and analyzing everything that crosses upon it.

"Do…..Do you remember what happened?" She asks in a hushed tone.

I tilt my head. "What?"

"After the gala. Well, during the gala, but, it was-I mean, you left, and-" She stumbles over her words. I give her a crazed look, racking my mind for anything that had happened.

The night came rushing back to me. The gala, the bathroom, my crazed idea, hiding underneath the bed, slamming into him before he locked me away once again.

"Oh." I say quietly.

Violet stares at me for a moment before pulling me into a large, tight hug. "I am so glad you're okay." A smack on the back of my head vibrates through the room. "And completely pissed off for what you did!"

She pulls away from me, staring me in the eyes with disbelief on her face.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She asks chronically.

I rack my brain for a way to explain the mayhem of thoughts to her.

"Do you ever get tired of being here?" I ask her, deflated. She tilts her head to the side in question.

"I mean," I start. "Do you ever just miss your family? Want to go home, back to your normal life, with your friends, to school, where you belong?"

Violet's eyes widen for a fraction of a second before going blank. She stares over my shoulder, her gaze wandering over the vague horizon line outside my window. I let her think as I tuck my feet back under the covers carefully and pulling the sheets up above my chest. I twirl a lock of hair around my finger and stare to the other side of the room, where the coffin was.

Violet opens her mouth multiple times, her creamy balm covered lips forming small, incomprehensible words that zapped through her mouth before I could read them. Only, the words were to no avail. She would quickly shut her mouth once again and press her lips against each other tightly.

We stayed like that in silence for moments on end. My small sneeze interrupts the swirling silence around us, snapping Violet out of her stare out the window.

"I need to go, Mia." She plasters a promising smile on her face that I could read through completely. She was faking it all. I had said something that had set her on edge.

I don't say anything about it as she hugs me. I wrap one arm around her back before she pulls away and throws one last weak smile over her shoulder as she exits the room.

I sit there, shock paralyzing my body as it dawns on me just what happened at the gala.

I had tried to escape. I had almost made it. I had seen the handle. I had been in the foyer. He had stopped me, knocking me to the ground. I hadn't danced with him. He had smiled. He had insanely large canines, as sharp as a saber-tooth tiger, but around the size of a large peanut. Curved, deadly, gleaming white weapons.

I hyperventilated, and, somewhere in the process, fell asleep.

_**~Dimitri~**_

_ "Do you ever get tired of being here? Do you ever just miss your family? Want to go home, back to your normal life, with your friends, to school, where you belong?" _

Her words replayed through my head repetitively. I had been pressing my ear up against her door, eagerly awaiting for the moment she was awake. My ears had been acute ever since she passed out last night.

When Violet's voice rang from the direction of Mariella's bedroom, and she replied, I came running. I pressed my ear against the cold door, listening intently.

_"Do you ever want to go home, where you belong?" _Violet didn't answer.

A small sneeze echoed around the room.

_"I need to go, Mia." _ Violet tried to sound nice and light.

I ran back through the hallways to my room, where Jer was waiting, legs folded neatly over each other.

"How did it go?" He asks.

I shake the words away.

"She's awake." I state blankly.

Jer raises an eyebrow. "And that tells me….what?"

I roll my eyes at his pathetic excuse of humor.

Jer sighs and shifts in the chair. "I heard what she said."

I lift my eyes up. "You did?"

He nods. "I was surprised Violet didn't say anything back. I guess she hasn't told the Halfling girl about her decision."

"Violet hasn't told Mariella anything. Not even about you two." I say.

Jer's mouth drops open. "Are you kidding?"

I shake my head. "No."

"Damn it." Jer growls under his breath. "It would have been so much easier to just tell the girl from the beginning."

"I agree." I say, walking over to Jer to take a seat on the bed.

Jer straightens his back as I relax and rest my head against the wooden headboard. "You should go talk to the Halfling." Jer says, twiddling his thumbs in his lap. "It would be good for you to at least bond for the time being."

I groan and slouch further into the mattress. "We don't need any bonding."

He stifles a choked laugh. "Yeah, sure." He stands up, recovering from his postponed laughter. "I have to go, brother. I may possibly see you tonight at dinner." He winks at me mockingly over his shoulder before exiting my room.

I sigh, closing my eyes for a moment before abruptly standing up and leaving my room, towards Mariella's hallway.

It was plain hell to have to do this. Plain hell.

_**~Mariella~**_

I was lucid dreaming. Even as the scorching fire swept over the town like a broom dusting the grime out of the way, I could tell it was just a dream.

_The flames licked the edges of the circular town. It wouldn't spread any further than the city boundaries. _

_ I stood outside the walls of my city carefully, watching in awe and sadness as it cremated down into charring ashes. Only the deadly scarlet mush of bricks stacked up on top of each other stood intact as they protected the city. _

_They wouldn't hold for long. I knew they wouldn't. Nothing did. _

_ A small, urgent tugging on my baggy shirt made me look down into the large round brown eyes of a young girl. _

"_I can't find my mommy!" She wails over the thundering crackle of embers shooting into the air. _

_ I pick her up carefully, cradling her like I would a young baby. "I need to get you out of here." I whisper to her, brushing her shoulder-length hair away from me. I tried to stay composed and steady as the hyperventilating little girl in my arms squirmed mercilessly. _

"_Stop squirming, dear." I say, hushing my voice into a calming tone. "We can find your parents if you stop squirming." _

_ I run, a small bundle of a girl quivering violently in my arms. I run far away from the city, away from the towering buildings, away from the small suburban homes that had caught fire, away from the screeching wails distressed people uttered. _

_She stopped quivering. "They aren't here." Her voice turned placid as she stared steadily into the distance. _

_ I stop running, staring down at her. "Who aren't here?" _

_She slowly turns her small, childish cheeks to me, pale silk reflecting the luminescent colors of the burning flames. "My parents." _

_ She stares at me a second longer before turning away and breaking out in a violent shiver. She struggles in my arms. I hold her tightly against my chest as I start running. _

_An ear-splitting scream peels from her lips. I hush her. _

"_Shh, honey. It's okay. You're okay. Everything is fine." I murmur in her ear as I nuzzle the crown of her head. She halts in her shrieking, but the shakes continue. _

_I run. I run far away from the burning city. Until there are no sounds but my labored breath and the girl's small, jutting deep breaths. I don't dare put the girl down. _

_ "Are you cold?" I ask her gently. She shakes her head. _

"_I want to go home." She leaps out of my grasp, brushing her small knees before turning to walk to the right, where a dense forest lay. I hastily follow after her. _

_ "What's your name?" I ask her, catching up to walk beside her small feet. _

I was softly shaken awake by smooth, prodding hands. "Mia, sweetie, it's time to wake up."

My eyes slowly fluttered open to reveal the image of a robust Cynthia leaning over me anxiously. Her pudgy hand grips my shoulder before letting go and reaching up to pinch my cheek. I cringe away in protest.

"How'd you sleep?" She asks. Her tenuous voice humbly rang through the room.

I shake my head in response. She frowns.

"Here." She says, pushing a plate towards me. It was stacked high with fluffy buttermilk pancakes that were drenched in syrup and scrambled eggs meddled on the side.

I eagerly hold the utensils in my hands as I cut the pancakes violently, taking large swallows of them. My throat burned with dryness.

Cynthia handed me a glass of orange juice, which I gratefully took and chugged down in one swig. She smiled a tiny smile before patting my leg and saying "I'm going to refill this."

As she turned away and out of my room, I took three more large forkfuls of buttery pancakes and salty eggs before placing the plate on the nightstand.

My talk with Violet from the day before came flooding into my mind.

Cynthia unlocked my bedroom door and strode in, swinging the door shut behind her with a loud _bang _that vibrated through the room.

"Here's your orange juice, sweetie." I eagerly grab it from her, making a point to sip the drink instead of chug.

She picked up the empty plate off of the nightstand and waited patiently for me to finish my glass of orange juice. I gave it to her when I was done, quickly mumbling a thank you.

She nodded. "Anytime, sweetie" Before exiting the room once again. I heard the bolt lock shut.

I curled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, rocking back and forth on the bed.

Whatever kind of sick-minded, cruel hearted, mysterious place this was, I didn't like it. And I sure as hell wasn't going to escape.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I took small, unsure steps down the staircase through the hallways. Anything would be better than walking down those hallways, following the invisible steps towards _her _door.

"It really shouldn't be this hard." I thought angrily. "With any other human, it would have been fine. I wouldn't feel so guilty and anxious about their welfare." A small, nagging and incredibly obnoxious part of my mind reminded me that Mariella wasn't fully human. She was only half. Still, it didn't matter. I shouldn't care about what happened to her.

Jer's chuckling words ran through my head on a fast paced train about to slam into a large mountain side. _"Dimitri, why won't you just accept that you want her?"_

"Because I don't want her, Dumbass." I mutter in an inaudible growl for the courtesy of the passing maids. I rub my temples, groaning and trying to get the knot of confusion untangled.

I picked up the pace, because I figured that delaying what was inevitable was just a waste of time. Of course, I didn't need that time. I had all the time in the world.

I reached Mariella's door, resting my warm palm on the cool gold handle, curling my fingers around it to soak up the small amount of cold humidity there was.

I tried to swing the door open, but my hand was frozen in place. My body ran cold, shivers dancing up and down my spinal cord. I backed away from the door slowly, before turning to run. I couldn't see her now. I was incapable of it right now.

I ran swiftly back to my room, locking the door behind me.

_**~Mariella~**_

I racked my mind desperately for a different explanation of what really had happened last night.

I had forced myself to think about the incident. It was better to sort things out while they were fresh in my mind.

"Not too much out of the ordinary." I think, counting off the things in my head. "He was in front of me in less than a quarter of a second, he was impossibly strong, and he had insanely large canines."

"Yeah." I murmur aloud. "Really, there isn't too much out of the ordinary."

Maybe he had had a teeth growth deformation as he grew up? But it was only on his canines…The gums of his teeth pulled up too much on that specific spot?

That wasn't possible either. You couldn't lift a flap of gum up only to set it back down and in place for the rest of the teeth.

Vaguely, I remembered that all four of his canines were sharp. The top ones just curved in a deadly, gleaming arch. I shivered.

They were elegant, in a way. They arched back towards his mouth, but with a swift move, they could easily rip open anything. Deadly, but elegant.

I suddenly remembered what had brought me to this. If there was no other explanation, then….

It couldn't be true.

But I slowly realized my mistake with an unwilling tenacity that set the whole room on an anxious teeter of tension.

_**~Violet~**_

I walked into Mia's room slowly, making sure that if she was asleep, I didn't wake her.

She was quite the opposite. She was acutely awake. Her eyes wide, her back rigid even though it had the choice of resting against the feather pillows, her mouth closed in a loose line, lips barely pressing together. Her ears were perked, just like a full vampires' ears did when they listened carefully.

It hit me with a stun that Mia wasn't actually fully human. I mean, I had heard that she wasn't, but I guess I had forgotten. Her facial features resembled a downplayed version of one of the pale-faced gorgeous vampire ones. She was half of them.

"Hey." I say, making a large effort to stop my voice from trembling. The realization that she _wasn't fully human _was still shocking. I had never really noticed before.

Mia nods. "Hi." A small, shaded crease line appears between her eyebrows. I walk over to her and smooth it out, smiling half-heartedly. I expected a small smile back, but I get a blank stare.

"Mia," I start. "Are you okay?"

She doesn't answer my question. Instead, she asks a question of her own that all of us had been waiting to hear. "It's true, isn't it?"

My eyes pop for a moment before I let out a big breath. "Yes."

_**~Violet~**_

Mia hadn't answered back after I had called her name repeatedly. It was as if her body was in the same place, but I lacked the presence of her mind.

I stared at her for a minute before deciding to leave her alone. It would be best that way for a little while. She needed the news to sink into her brain. From what I could see, she was letting that happen.

She was doing better than I had. I had had night terrors of vampires chasing after me with their gleaming curved fangs as I ran slowly through confusing hallways. I had sat in bed all day, huddled in various blankets yet still shivering from the sheer cold that fear carried around in a red silk pouch, waiting to release it on the terrified soul. It was thrown on me for weeks on end. I couldn't work, or talk, and I resented eating and drinking. I wouldn't shower. I stayed dirty for as long as I could. And, however much I dreaded the nighttime when the night terrors would come, I still had to endure through it. Only did meeting Jer make it better.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I pushed down the handle so vigorously it almost broke off. I swung the door so hard it almost fell off its hinges. I was being a coward. I had to see her. She was under my care, after all.

I didn't want to see her.

But moments later, I did. And seeing her really was something.

She was beautiful. Well, of what I could see. Her hazel eyes were trying to turn over into a flowing amber. It was only sparkles in and out of light right now. The amber couldn't fully take over. Her top eyelashes curled up and over, reaching towards her eyelids. Her bottom ones curved slightly downwards, like dark brush strokes against pale, rigid canvas.

Her mouth was two pink coral reefs matched up against each other. The top was thin yet demonstrative while it was compared to the full, rich bottom lip that plumed over, casting a small shadow across the nick of her chin.

Her wide, angular cheekbones that were usually covered by hair now showed, throwing long, lanky shadows across her pale, clean cheeks. Her jaw, squared in a proud way even as she rested.

A long, slender, creamy milk-white neck that carried her head around high in the air, in a non-arrogant yet prideful way was beautiful to inspect. The dark lighting only lightened her skin, almost into the color of a Caucasian vampire. Still, I could see the luminescent rich mocha Italian color underneath the parlor illusion.

Her hair was in a crazy bed head form, but it still looked nice sprawled out in small tangles underneath and around her.

The rest of her was hidden away between a mattress, two comforters, and several quilted blankets of which I was sure was Violet's doing.

I stared at her, amazed at the beauty she possessed. It didn't occur to me for minutes on end that she was in a hysterical daze.

I stroked her hair lightly, feeling through the fine tangles. I ached to run my fingers along her cheek, and sweetly reminisce with her about younger times. But I restrained. She couldn't know what I wanted, what I needed.

"Do I want her?" I think scornfully. "Yes. Hell yes." I ran my hand over her hair again.

"Can I have her?" Footsteps echoed through the halls. "Hell no."

_**~Mia~**_

Violet's word had been the one word that I had been dreading for the past couple of weeks. _Yes._

I had waited eagerly for Violet to say _"No, no. Of course they aren't real. They are all just ordinary humans with odd minds. They play a trick on every guest."_

And then I would reply _"So why am I here?"_

Violet would smile sweetly and smooth out the bed covers. _"It's a boarding school. You know, to resist temptation and what not."_

I would laugh and throw my arms around her, make a quick call to my family and friends, but they would already know where I was, and since I had figured out the secret, I would be able to go home and continue my life normally.

That is how it was _supposed_ to go.

The whole perfect illusion was shattered and dangled in front of my face with Violet's one word. _Yes._

I didn't know how long it had been since then. It could have been seconds or ten lifetimes ago. I sat motionlessly, staring at the dark wall in front of my face.

Heat and cold didn't affect me. I could be in a snowstorm or a desert; it wouldn't make a difference. Drinks and food didn't matter. I wouldn't taste them. Clothes didn't matter; I couldn't feel anything tangible against my skin.

All I could feel was a swirling, howling, ringing wind whipping through my ears. A coiling snake of realization and clarity wrapping around me, squeezing tighter like an anaconda does to its' prey.

I could see, but filmy grain was plastered over my eyes so I saw more of a dusty, block world instead of reality. Through the grains I could see a dark, tall figure walk over to me.

It sighs, a low, smooth and rough, melodious voice slowly echoing through the room. I keep staring ahead.

The snake wraps around again, tighter, squeezing and retracting its' muscles with poise.

The whipping wind breathes over my ear, tucking away a loose strand of hair. Heat spikes up on one of my cheeks. Another sigh.

The dark figure gets up and leaves gracefully, long legs striding across the floor like long, wispy bat wings.

Alone. The figure was gone. No one else was here.

That's what this was; this shock. This lack of hot and cold and feeling.

It was alone.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I rushed back into my room, where Jer and Violet were sitting on a bamboo chair in the corner of the room, Violet curled up onto Jer's lap.

I raise my eyebrows as she takes his face between her hands and kisses him. "You do have a room, Jer."

He laughs against Violet's lips and gently inches her away, murmuring something about 'later'. She nods and pulls away, but stays on his lap.

"So," Jer says casually. "You admitted you like her." He stops, raising his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Mariella, of course." Violet smirks.

My eyes go wide with disbelief for a moment too long. Jer laughs, clapping his hands together and joyously yelling "I was right!" I was sure the whole house heard him.

I growl. "She cannot stay in here during this conversation." I point a solid, unwavering finger at Violet.

Jer smiles widely, flashing his teeth in a teasing way. "I'll fight to the death for her. She'll stay in here if she wishes." I knew he was actually threatening me, but he wasn't mad. He was just warning me about the consequences of violence.

I groan and hide my ashamed face in my hands, sitting down on my bed in conclusion. I guess that I had known all along, but it came as a shock. I was addicted to this girl, this….this half-breed. The word and the mere thought of this tangled mess sent shivers of fury spiking through me.

Jer walks over and claps me on the shoulder. "It's okay, brother. I remember when I first found I felt the same way about Violet, I was disgusted. A human maid? I could have done much better." He sympathizes with Violet and throws back a startlingly sad glance at her. "Sorry." She nods, smiling. "It's okay. I know you could have chosen anyone."

"This is all too mushy." I groan, straightening my back. "I won't let this happen." Firmness grasped my voice by a chain.

Jer smiles ruefully at me. "Oh, how you wish love worked like that." I stare at him questioningly. "Come, Vi. Let's let the arrogant, lovesick vampire wallow in grief alone." I snatch a pillow from off of the bed and hurl it at him. Violet smirks before going to meet Jer, who waits outside the door.

As Violet walks past, she pats my head soothingly like she would a dog. "She's a good person. Treat her well." And she walked out.

Just like that. I groaned and fell against the bed, giving up trying to deny it, these feelings I had for this hybrid. Whatever happened, it would happen, and I couldn't change that fact whether I liked it or not.

_**~Mia~**_

I wasn't sure how long passed. It didn't matter. The days were all long, attached threads of endless time. Maids would come in, bustling around the room and risking quick glances at my face before jerkily turning away. They were faceless bodies that roamed around caring for me. Chefs would ramble into the room with large trays filled with steaming soup, fresh salad, pork roasts, French cheese and baguettes, luxury ice cream, newly imported iced tea, anything they could try that seemed luxurious enough to please me. They would stand by my bedside, hands wringing each other anxiously to see if I would try their dish. What would usually smell good held no appeal whatsoever. After long, lingering ages of positioning their feet, clearing their throat, fixing the tray neatly onto my lap, they would finally sigh and leave, shaking their heads dismally. They were faceless too.

Violet would come in everyday and perch on the edge of my bed, swinging her feet innocently in the air to thud them lightly against the bed._ She_ wouldn't even look at me often. Her eyes were fixed on her thighs, where her arms and hands carefully rested. When she did look up, her eyes were filled with pain, a long look of understanding that willed me to come back.

But there was no coming back, and even though I could feel her somber gaze lingering upon me, she knew that too. Hope wasn't an answer anymore. I was on my own, as was she.

Occasionally, she would gently press my hands together and cradle my two small ones in her long, spindly fingers, rubbing them together in warmth. I didn't feel her touch, just glanced down to see my two hands that I could not feel, were wrapped tightly in Violet's. Then, without saying a word, she would give me one last, longing glance for me to understand before leaving silently. Violet had a face.

Cynthia came by, her voice a non-stop recording of banter that was only a smooth buzzing in my ears. I would see her pudgy white hand pat my leg cheerfully, willing me to "wake up, honey" and patting my belly ever so often, commenting on how thin I was getting. Then she would leave also, saying she would come back and visit again soon. Cynthia had a face.

Elizabeth came by, wearing her jeans I had given her along with the maids' uniform. She would drag a chair to the bedside and curl up her knees underneath her chin, straight, long black strips of hair covering her cheeks. She would be silent, patting my hand occasionally as a few single tears rolled down her cheeks. I wasn't sure why it was that this happened. Then, she would wipe her face and sniffle lightly before patting my hand once more, pulling in a ragged breath, dragging the chair back to where it was, and then leaving, sealing the door shut behind her quietly. Elizabeth had a face.

Ella would come, speak in a soft southern accent as she gave my feet a massage and speaking of every medical injury lately. A maid had broken her toe, another had split open her chin, etcetera. I didn't hear these things. Her striking downplayed orange hair flipped up around her neck as she spoke excitedly. Ella had a face, but no voice.

Alea and Jade would come together, hands clasped tightly in concern as they, for once in their lives, wore serious plastered masks on their faces. They would flit around me worriedly, still having their same energy, but directed towards worry for me. Jade would hop up onto the bed, resting on the balls of her feet as she rocked back and forth, slapping my hands and cheeks lightly and pleading "Mia, come on. Wake up." Alea would slip her fingers through the stiff comforter and play with my toes, counting them off like a child does. She would smile ruefully and hold back tears that threatened to glisten and pool over her eyelids. Both their gleaming eyes stared hopefully into mine, wishing something that wouldn't come. Their faces were intact.

I wanted to scream "I am awake!" But my mouth wouldn't open. It was sealed tightly shut by an impossible sealing glue. Slowly, each one of them drew away. They were losing hope, piece by piece as their visits dwindled every day. The visits were shorter, sadder. Each one faded away.

Time was easy to forget. It wasn't there anymore. It had vanished into the recesses in the corners of whatever was left here. No one understood that I was alive, I was ready to tackle the world. My mouth just wouldn't open.

Under cover of night, I would crawl out of my bed which was hot and tangled from being sat in all day. I would slip on workout shorts and a tank top, and, as quietly as possible, open my door and slip into the hallway and make a silent run towards the gym, which I could find with no light at all now.

All night, I would train. Flipping through the air before hitting onto one of the uneven bars, dancing across the floor, cartwheeling into aerials and landing on my feet off of the vault. That was my routine, the time when I could be myself, be alone without feeling that tingling sensation of confusion that swept over me when the sun was bright and alive overhead.

I would sneak back into my room at sunrise, get no more than a little time to sleep, and then I was whisked away to continue my tattoo. It was nearly finished, Matthew would tell me as the sun beamed into the room, bouncing off of every surface it possibly could. He would let me look at in the mirror. The fountain was done, the humerus was midnight black with the foggy quotation I had chosen crawling down the sides of it. All that was left was the falling feathers and rose petals.

After my session with Matthew, I only had to endure visitors, which had, at first, been nearly unbearable, but as they lost hope, only two remained.

Violet had the strength to visit each day, holding my hand and talking to me about what was going on in the castle. About how things were falling apart. Something about the eldest brother in the ruling vampire family. She would bring me water and pills some days, which would let sleep overtake me, the last sound being her gradually fading voice. But I didn't hear the words; I heard the tone, like one large hum that changed with emotion.

Dimitri came every day and spent an hour or longer beside me. His hands would brush my hair out of my face, letting his fingers run through it smoothly. The tangles were silk against his fingers. He would murmur low things under his breath that I could not hear as he would stare at me, ash colored sadness filling his onyx eyes. He would stroke my cheek with the back of his hand softly, running it down my arm. This, I felt. I felt the pang of small shivers skittering up and down my arm, living vicariously through Dimitri's touch. Live, vibrating little creatures would sing as he touched me. They faded away as quickly as they had come. His touch was alive. I could feel every wonderful sensation it sent rushing through my body at an incredibly fast rate. Everything he did was dynamic, alive, even though he himself was dead. Everyone else, their touches were nonexistent, static. But Dimitri, his touch was ecstatic. He wasn't just a face. He was a body.

I was alive for the time he spent with me, sitting by my bedside, brushing my hair, skimming my temples, caressing my arms. His soft, low murmurs dangled languorously in the air, brushing through my ears in such a way that if I could move, I would shiver. And when he left, I fell asleep, back into the clutches of the grinning, devious nightmares.

He should be the one I was scared of. He was one of them. He was the main one of them, the one that showed me everything. That brought me into this insane world of paradoxes and loose ends. Yet, he was the one who calmed it. Who made everything that wasn't already gone disappear, so, for an hour a day, while I was in the midst of chaos, a serene leaf enfolded me in its soft, downy comfort and I could be at ease. He eased me away from the chaos.


	13. Chapter Twelve :1658:

_Alright, it's been awhile. Here's a new chapter, I really hope everyone likes it. _

_**Alistarsmusic: **__Hmm…well, I guess we'll all find out at the same time, yes? No, wait, that's not right. I already know! :)…well, sort of…_

_**Purple Halo: **__Ha! Well, I'm sure hoping that's not the case, because I surely don't want to be copyrighting or emulating Snow White!_

_**Firelove57:**__ Boys like that drive me insane, too. He really does make you hate and love him at the same time, right? _

_**xXallegedangelXx:**__ Why thank you! That is really what I was aiming for, something that would be somewhat scary beautiful. : )_

_**PrettyReckless102: **__I will definitely try to check those out soon. Thanks!_

_**Evangelinex17:**__ Yes, she did see that. However, perception is reality; in other words, she saw what was real, but she twisted it into something that was more logical, more acceptable. Does that answer your question? I wasn't really sure on what your question was :)_

_I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Review, please!_

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Twelve_

_**~Violet~**_

Mia was starving, and there was nothing any of us could do.

Chefs brought her assortments of expensive dishes that would be appealing to anyone in this house. Champagne glasses full of bubbly drinks that were imported from around the world. Fresh meat, cheeses, desserts, spaghetti drizzled in mozzarella and a creamy sauce that was sweet were all brought to her throughout the course of a day. But she wouldn't eat. She just lay there, staring ahead at a blank wall in front of her as people worried about her health and tried to nurse her back to health.

She wasn't there. She was in some far off place that no one could identify. No one could calm the restless state of peace she was in.

Except Dimitri. He would come out of her room after hours, a sad grin playing across his features. Each time I saw him, I would ask him what had happened, but he just shook his head sadly, smiling, and walked away. I didn't understand. He was enthralled in joy and sadness every time he walked out of her room.

I asked Jer to investigate, but Dimitri wouldn't tell him either. What happened in Mia's chambers when Dimitri was there, I had no clue. I just hoped that he was trying to fix her, not tear her apart.

I took Jer with me to see her a few times. He would laugh weakly, and make jokes about how pale she was, how she could be one of them. Of course, she already was; half. He would slap her stomach lightly, gasp dramatically, and then make her eat a bowl of hot soup. She ate it unwillingly, slowly, but she got it down. And then, after saying something about coming back to visit another day and making sure she ate her soup, he would smile, kiss her on the forehead like he would a sick sister, and walk away, smiling sadly with concern filled in his eyes.

I would stay, telling Mia to wake up. That I needed to tell her about Jer. About how Dimitri was acting like he actually had some humanity that he showed, and how I didn't know what went on when he was in here. She needed to talk to me, and I needed to talk to her. I willed her to wake up, crying and pleading miserably until someone else would walk in. I would wipe my face clear of tears, nod to them, and walk out. Mia had been in bed six weeks, and there was no change in heart. She needed to live, but she wasn't going to if she continued on this way.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I needed her to get better. To be snarky, pessimistic, herself. I needed to hear the sharp retorts she gave back to me. She needed to come alive again.

I didn't dare change her in this state. She would be shocked and loathe me when she woke up in a new, glorious body.

Every time I went into her room, though, and stroked her hair and cheeks, her face would soften. The hard mask she wore would crumble ever so slightly, and I could see the young, vulnerable girl she was. But not for long. She would repair it quickly. I would whisper quietly to her, so she couldn't hear. I would whisper about how I wanted her so much, how I needed her to come back, but how I could never have her, because of how different we were. Of how nothing would become of the sorrow I was feeling.

I was trying to sleep one night, but noises of clinking metal and heavy footsteps would not cease. I rushed out of my coffin and tracked down the sound, irritated. Who would dare to make such a ruckus at this time in my estate?

As I swung the door open, Mariella executed a double backwards aerial off of the vault. I quickly let the door back in place silently. It was not hard to be silent when you were a supernatural being.

I watched her the rest of the night. She came alive here, in this gym. The floor, the uneven bars, the chalk, it all brought her to life in a way that no one could do during the day. She was glorious in this room, sweaty but elegant just the same.

Just as the sun began to rise, she quietly exited the gym and slipped back into her room, where she fell back into bed with the same impeccable mask that, until that night, had occupied her face for a month and a half.

As fast as I could, I ran towards the kitchen. The second it took dragged on painfully slowly. I nearly run into Cynthia, who has a large omelet in the palm of her hand. I stop myself against her shoulders, yank the plate out of her hand, and run off, yelling "I'll bring it to her this morning."

I don't bother to knock. She has me so infuriated right now that I do not even know what to do with myself. To drag me on in that way for six weeks? That was torture. Urban myth claims that vampires are evil. But we are nothing compared to this hybrid, this girl whom I have mistakenly taken to.

I hunker down on her bed in front of her. She curls her legs up to her chin, cradling her knees in her arms. I set the plate on my lap, fill the fork with a large mouthful, and shove it into her mouth.

"Chew."

She stares at me blankly, the omelet sitting idly in her mouth.

"EAT IT!" I roar, unable to control myself. She holds my eyes, and slowly starts to chew. I shovel the omelet into her mouth bit by bit until nothing but salt crystals and pepper flakes remain.

"Get up." I say gruffly before yanking hard on her arm and pulling her out of the bed. She trips over her feet and stumbles after me as I tow her out of the door. "Take me to the gymnasium." I tell her pointedly. She keeps her gaze on her feet, where it has been since she stood up.

"NOW!" I could not control my infuriation. She moves her feet sluggishly in the opposite direction of the gymnasium. "You worthless bitch! Lead me towards the gymnasium!" I scream, nearly reigniting the age old habit I had of stomping my left foot. She stopped walking and stood with her back to me dumbly. I scoffed and pulled on her arm until she was stumbling once again. Dragging her toward the gymnasium, I scolded myself repeatedly for allowing this girl, this hybrid, this pest, to trick me.

Opening the door, I pushed her inside. She fell on the mat and did not get back to her feet. I stand over her. "This room sure held a secret of yours for a pretty long time, wouldn't you say?" She stayed motionless.

I circled around her. "I guess the cat's out of the bag now, though, hm? Tsk. What a shame." She stayed silent.

"You know what is absolutely absurd?" I ask her, crouching down low so my ankles were level with her face. "The fact that all of the staff and all of the royalty in this household have been busting their asses to try to keep you alive. Busting their asses to keep a _human _alive. A filthy hybrid, nonetheless. It is truly absurd. Unbelievable, really, wouldn't you say?" She would not even look me in the eye, the witch.

I pick her up quickly, cradling her in my arms before running out the door.

Reaching the destination, the doors swing open, gliding on silent hinges as they reveal the room. I walked to the middle of it, where the glass square encased the plan. I just needed to show her. That was all. Tell her the story, what it was, and show her.

`"Mia." I shake her shoulder lightly. "Wake up. You need to see this."

Her eyes flutter open. I hold back a shout of glee, seeing that the musky fog that had been there for weeks wasn't covering their color.

She looks up into my eyes. I earnestly look back at her. Jer was right; I needed to accept the fact that I was crazy about her.

"We're here. I need you to look now. To look at the room around you. To look at the place where your parents found their adopted daughter Salina's fang."

_**~Mia~**_

Ignoring the impulsive tingles of delight that rushed through my skin at his touch, I took a quick glimpse of the room around me. There wasn't much to see. Blooming rose red soft velvet lining covered the walls and ceiling, also serving as carpet. The only doors were the double ones we had come through. The red room was empty save a cubic pedestal, which, on top, a glass encasing cube protected a burgundy silk pillow. I thought the setup was fairly overrated, but I realized that I wasn't in any position to judge, seeing that I have been in bed, moping for who knows how long.

On top of the pillow, two thin, deep crescent dents were embroidered into the pillow. One was occupied, a fang resting in it. White, gleaming, pearly, sharp, wicked, curved, deadly, all these words described it. It was coiled under, like a cat claw so it could hook into prey. No decay was on it whatsoever, just a beautiful, deadly weapon. I could fit it in between my index finger and thumb with an exhaustingly major amount of space left, but I knew that even holding it, the fang would puncture my skin. So small, yet packed with the fury and skill to kill someone quickly. The sight of it sent all my instincts on alert, each distinct one screaming at me to sprint away for the reason of life or death. And then, I realized that my instincts were correct. I had seen two of those in Dimitri's mouth only a while ago. Those could very well be the cause of my death.

Returning my attention back to the pedestal, I notice the other dent was vacant. I point at the empty one with a surprisingly steady finger. "What happened?" I ask, gaining emotion back as curiosity overwhelmed me.

Dimitri stares at the pedestal evenly. "Your parents. They took their daughter's other fang."

I nod, slowly letting the knowledge seep into my waking brain. "What's the story?"

I gain an amused smirk from Dimitri, who manages to finally look at me. "Well, it's long."

"It's not like I have anything else to do. And, by bringing me here, I can obviously see you don't have anything too important either." The words slip out sharper than I intended them to, but the point got across. That almost got me a chuckle.

"Well then." He says, genuinely smiling with no distant stare. I wait for him to begin, but only the chilling sensation of his eyes gazing on me came. I lost more of my will power, and succumbed to more of his weight keeping me up. His arm wound around my ribcage, holding me protectively and slightly closer to him.

His eyes sweep over me in less than a second before lazily resting on my face. The seriousness that lived in his eyes was menacing, and took away even more of my ability to stand. It was to the point where, however much I didn't want to admit, he was supporting all of me. Dimitri was sure to feel the weight difference, because he bent down, put his strong arm on the backs of my knees and pushed so they crumbled under the touch. He picked me up, and I was cradled against his chest in one swift move, all underneath a second. His eyes never left mine.

I gasped slightly while he picked me up, but quickly got over the shock as I took in the feel of his chest. It was hard, defined; I could feel it through the fine cotton of his shirt. Each muscle rippled lightly as he breathed rhythmically. I swayed with the beat of his breath. If I listened closely, I could hear a faint thrum inside his ribcage, where a dying, callous heart lay, wheezing and trying to get the body back onto a human track. But it wouldn't happen; the heart would always struggle to live. And, after time, it would just want to die.

Without thinking, I laid my head against his chest, listening to the thrum of the crusty, rotten heart that tried to strive hopelessly. For a moment, I closed my eyes, breaking the trance we were in. I immediately pushed away from his sculpted chest, and his eyes snapped back to reality, focusing away from my face. He walked over to a velvet wall and slid down, all the while keeping me in his arms.

"Thanks." I sputter hesitantly. He risks a glance down at me, a ghost of a smile tracing over his mouth.

"For what?" He says, his voice dropping in a silky way, almost into a murmur.

It takes me a moment to gather myself. His voice was so compelling, smooth, you could get lost in the endless folds of tone and low energy… "For keeping me standing." I say, feeling foolish.

His gaze turns serious. "Of course." I was determined not to look into his ocher eyes. I finally clear my throat, saying "So what about that story?"

He nods. "Do you know whose fang is in there? Obviously, the one missing was Salina's, but the one in there now." I shake my head, clueless at what was coming.

"My brother's." I blow out a breath that I had unknowingly been holding.

"Jer?" I ask, shocked.

Dimitri shakes his head. "No. A brother of mine that is no longer here."

"How do you know it's his? I mean, other than the point that your family has told you."

His lips crease together, deep in thought. I note to myself how much attention I've been giving to that mouth. It was a disturbingly high ration.

"You see, each vampire family has a type of…trademark on their fangs. To mark they are part of that family."

"And what are yours?" I ask, fearing the question.

He smiles wistfully, carefully concealing his fangs. "On the back of each canine, we have another smaller, sharper one that helps to sink into arteries and tear the skin."

"So, on the bottom of that tooth in the glass case," I hold back a shudder. "There is another, smaller fang attached to it at the top?" Dimitri nods.

"You may get to see why it is so helpful sometime." Dimitri says. "If you choose to live with us, you will have those, too." It takes all I have to hold back a small, moaning whimper to stay in my mouth. His words reminded me of the decision I had to make soon.

"Moving onto the story," he says, breaking me out of my treacherous thoughts. "Our families used to be on good terms. Of course, this was back when my brother was alive. Our families used to share this mansion." I try to keep my face blank as he speaks, but at the mention of our two families cooperating, I have to fight to stop my eyes from bulging in a bug shape. "They were the top; the rulers. Together, our families were the power of our race. They were, until Saria and James broke away."

Their names sent an electric jolt through me. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Decades went by peacefully when your parents were with us. It was 1658 when Salina was burned at the stake for witchcraft. She had been feeding madly, but it was one death that really solidified the fact that she need to be stopped." I raise my eyebrows at this.

"My brother, who was eleven at the time, had still been in the human part of his life. You see, pure vampires start out as humans, and they begin to undergo transformation when they reach puberty. The change to vampirism for us is a much slower process than the one where a human is bit by a vampire. That only takes a week or two, at the most."

"She killed your brother," I say, my hand unconsciously gripping the soft material of his shirt around his abdomen.

He nods. "Yes, she did. My Mother and Father could not stand for it. Although they did not with for Salina to be burned at the stake, they certainly had a great influence on her outcome." He pauses. "Your parents do not know that Salina was the one who killed my older brother. It went public as a mugging. He was of a rich bloodline." Dimitri grins impishly.

My parents were nearly as sorry for Salina's outcome as your parents were. When Salina burned, though, her fangs were preserved. For the next 180 years, James and Saria each wore a fang around their neck, until Saria's fang went missing in the 19th century. It was found about thirteen years afterwards-"

"In this room." I finish for him. He looks down at me curiously.

"Yes. Right there, on that pedestal. James was furious with Giuseppe, my Father, and once your parents had left, Giuseppe and my Mother put one of my brother's fangs in there."

"But you said that-" I start.

"That he wasn't yet a vampire?" Dimitri continues. "Yes, that is true. However, we are all born with our fangs. It's a…trademark of a pureblood." I nod thoughtfully at his response.

"Since this incident?" I ask.

"The blood has run foul between our two families ever since." He finished gravely.

I started to mutter that the blood was still foul between us, but I quickly shut my mouth, realizing two vitally important things.

One was that if I said that, Dimitri and I would be on worse terms than we already were. And two, it wasn't true. Well, fully true. I could feel the barriers dissolving between us, and they seemed to actually be pulling together to make one long wall that we would stand on together.

This fact reigned terror in on me, just as Dimitri finished. "And that's what happened between our families."

_**~Violet~**_

Mia's room was deserted when I walked in. She wasn't even in there. The covers were sloppily thrown around the bed and the pillows were disarranged and unorganized. Worry bubbled in my chest and I ran away through the room, back to the safe-haven of Jer.

I threw his door open, tears threatening not to belay over the brim of my eyes. Jer was lying on the bed, his arms thrown up and crossed behind his head. He took a look at my expression and was immediately standing, his arms circled around me protectively as he eased me down onto the bed. "What's wrong, Vi? Are you okay?" He only called my Vi in serious times of affection or worry.

"Mia," I choke out, holding back a sob. "She isn't there."

"Where, love?" He asks, stroking my hair.

"In her room!" I shriek. "She's been gone for days, and all of a sudden she just gets up?"

I feel Jer's tenuous chuckle vibrate through his chest. I push away from him. "What's so funny about this?" I say, my face was surely portraying a fit of anger.

He kissed my nose lightly while I tried to refrain. "Violet, Dimitri probably took her away. It's about time, too. Although, who knows where he took her? I bet you by the end of the night, or early morning, she will be back in her bed, asleep and comfortable."

I stare up at Jer. "Di-di-di-Dimitri took her?" I struggle to grasp his words.

He laughs. "Well, I would think so."

I stare at Jer for a moment longer before throwing myself on top of him to smother his lips in kisses. He laughs as I resurface for air, taking the advantage to roll us over so he is on top. "Well then." Is all he says before I'm kissing him again.

~Violet~

Jer had told me to wait for a few hours before going back to check on Mia. But, as the first hour with him rapidly flew by, the next two hours were endless.

I tried busying myself with past work that I had before Mia came, before I had fallen in love with Jer and he had fallen in love with me. I scurried around the manor, hoping to find someone who was in need of assistance. I checked on Cynthia, who was contentedly stirring a brew that I did not want to know what contents it contained. I asked if she needed anything; after slicing up two loaves of fresh Italian bread for her, I was excused.

Ella hadn't needed too much assistance either. I helped her reorganize her cabinets and drawers, fill up a few needles with anti-bacterial medicine, and then, as another half an hour clocked by with her, I was again, alone and utterly bored.

Jade and Alea were in their room, painting each other's nails. They were off duty for a small period of time. They offered to paint my nails a shining silver. It was tempting, but I knew I had to constantly stay moving, so I sadly declined.

All the vampires bedrooms were neat; there wasn't a single thing to fix.

The laundry was all folded and distributed to the different residents. Everything was in order. I sighed, wondering helplessly what I could do.

A thought occurred to me that I could go down into the new clothing arrival chambers and pick out my next dress for a formal event. "It's better than nothing." I think desperately.

Stiffly, I make my legs turn toward the stairwell in the foyer. It was only a few halls away. There was a slow, creeping tingle in the tips of my feet. It wasn't a pain; just a bother. I make my feet move slightly faster.

The movement causes the unnerving tingles to seep into the balls and heels of my feet. They plastered over the bottom of my feet, only the tops staying purified from them. I move faster.

The tingles crawl up to my ankles. Each step sends a jolt of live tingles through the point of contact. The tingles were taking away my feeling with every motion. They were always there, but, slowly, I was losing feeling of everything in the area they were in except the tingles themselves.

I couldn't bear the thought of having to stop and lean against a wall, so, once again, I picked up the pace. They spread further, creeping up into my calves and above, into my kneecaps.

From the knee down, I had either lost feeling or the tingles had taken over. They were invading my body. I couldn't bear it. Breaking into a jog, I willed my legs to feel. To feel the ache of a workout, or feel the pounding blood rush through them, or cool water soaking over the tender skin.

Every step, more feeling was given to the tingles. I was slowly losing the battle for control over my legs. Breaking into a run, my heart pounded worriedly. Somewhere, my brain screamed that I should be running towards Jer, or someone who could help me. But, instead, I foolishly ran towards the clothing chambers on the second to bottom floor. If I didn't make it there, I would have lost the fight.

It was past my thighs, quickly careening into my hips. It was almost a sensual feeling, save for the fact it was stealing my willpower. I needed to get somewhere, anywhere.

A desperation to feel was finding its way into me. Anything would be good; happiness, strength, adrenaline, pain. If anything would happen to bring back my sense of feeling, I would be happy.

The tingles were halfway through my hip bones. I knew that once they were fully tangled in the tingles, I was gone. I pushed my dead legs faster. It was a matter of seconds left.

The door was at the end of the hall. If I could make it there, I would be okay. Everything would be fine.

My legs turned to jell-o beneath me, and I felt my upper body sway unsteadily. The thrum of the tingles was deafeningly silent. If I could take seven more wobbly steps, I would make it.

One. Shaky was the feeling that coursed through me. Two. Living uncertainty was deep in my mind. Three. Only a tip on the side of my foot. Four. Three more steps left. I raised my foot to step forward, feeling good. I could do three more steps.

A shaky tip of a shoe sent me sprawling out to the carpet. I reached out with my hands, grabbing hold of the handle in front of me as I collapsed to my knees. Clutching the handle, I pushed it down fiercely and dragged my dead legs into the clothing room, where I sat in an awkward, unmoving position, and heaved mercilessly as the anxiety attack washed over me in tidal waves.

_**~Mia~**_

Dimitri swiftly carried me back to my room. I involuntarily curled closer to his cold chest, listening to the sad, fluttering heart as it wheezed into a beautiful melody. He didn't seem to mind that I put my face close against him and pulled my knees up to my chest; I think I heard a faint chuckle. But I wasn't sure. Nothing was positive with Dimitri.

My bed was cold and inviting as I was lain into the fluffy embrace. Dimitri openly chuckled as I curled my hands around the red duvet. It was poofy and cold, and that was all that mattered at the moment. A light touch on my forehead, and the room was quiet, my breathing and the air conditioner humming together in rhythm to form the sounds of the room.

Quickly after, I fell asleep. There were no specific, memorable dreams. It was a restful sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to a pale yellow light as the last traces of a deep lilac faded from the sky. The yellow streamed through the curtains in wavy lines, one streaking over my eyes. I squinted, instantly slapping my hand up to my face to avoid the light. I sneezed twice, rubbing my nose like a kitten to wipe away the dreariness.

A chuckle rang through the room. I looked through my squinted eyes to see Dimitri sitting on the coffin top on the right side of the room, legs crossed and arms folded together. He was smiling.

I sigh, running a hand through my scraggly hair. Did he have to show up so early? He obviously saw the frustration on my face, which only made his smile grow wider.

"Beautiful morning, isn't it?" Is all he says. I throw my gaze away from him to look out the body length window. I couldn't see too much, so I groggily lobbed my legs off the bed and stood up shakily. Shadowed stars danced in front of my eyes for a moment before reality came back into focus.

As outside came into view, I fought to keep my mouth closed. At the peak of the horizon, bursting oranges bloomed and mingled with each other to create a bright fresh orange look, rusty tiger fur colored streaks tinting it. Above it, a pale red fluffed across the sky. It bunched in wispy clots. Throughout the whole area of the sky, yellow the color of a chick's down feathers illuminated the canvas.

I threw open the sliding glass door and jumped onto the balcony. Humid air swirled around me as I took in a large breath full of it all. Floral scents were hanging thick in the air, and, as I breathed in, a heady feeling engrossed me.

I loved the feel of everything. My toes were squishy against the uneven, beautiful balcony. The small lavender slip I had on lapped against my mid-thighs as gusts of small breezes carried through the air. I threw my arms up, twirling and laughing, giddy with the beautiful morning.

A pair of strong, soft hands rested on my shoulders. I stopped twirling and looked up into a pair of onyx eyes, specks of gold swimming through the darkness. Twisted, silk hair as black as a raven's wing shook as a tremor pulsed through me. There was no smile; just an intent gaze that bore into my hazel eyes. I briefly tried to fight the stare, but I was melted butter beneath it. It overpowered me completely, and, for a moment, the dark, solid gates that guarded him swung open, and I peered into them. I couldn't search; I was still stuck staring at the sheer magnificence of the gate itself.

A fly hummed by, whizzing in my ear before happily flying away. I snapped my head back up and stood there as Dimitri quickly pulled his hands off my shoulders. He cleared his throat. "I ought to leave. Take care, Mia."

_**~Violet~**_

Although my cheeks were burning and hot from the salt stains that trailed down them, the stinging was dissipating. My eyes were still shining, wet with grief, but the recently steady flow of tears had ceased. My legs weren't dead anymore, just gently throbbing because of how I had them tucked underneath me.

I knew I had to get up and find my way back to Jer, but I couldn't force my flimsy legs to support me. They refused to stay together.

Maids that I used to be acquainted with bustled in and out of the room, finding suitable dress clothes for the vampires. They would throw absentminded glances at me before quickly turning their heads away. If they came into the room in clusters, they would speak in hushed tones and throw accusing glances at me, as if it was my fault they were stuck in the horrid position they were in.

It surprised me how I used to know some of them, actually be friends with them. We would laugh together, have fun, splash each other with the oversized sponges that we would fill with the bubbly soap cleaner. Now, they threw ugly, bile-filled stares at me that made me want to melt away into the shadows of a dark corner.

Their stares were making me feel putrid, so, when an elite group of them made their way into some of the racks and started whispering hysterically about me, I yelled out at them furiously. "Just because I have a privilege that you all don't doesn't make me an asshole of a person! I cannot believe you treat me different just because of this, you damned idiots!" I fought back tears that wouldn't spill over.

They all stared at me, shock playing over their happy-go-lucky faces before anger set in. They started closing in around me in a half-circle, repelling me further into the corner. I kept my voice sturdy, looking at one specific blonde that I remembered; we had fun a lot while cleaning. "Lauren," I pause, keeping my voice steady and gravelly. She stalked forward, bending down on her long, languid legs to bunch her face up close up to mine. "What d'ya want, bitch?" Her Tennessee accent curled back and whipped me.

I hide the hurt from my face with a thicker mask of anger. "Get away from me, bastard." I spit at her. She recoils, her blonde eyebrows tilting upwards in surprise, but leaning closer to me, her hand opening in a hard, merciless alligator clasp. I stop her. "Ah-ah-ah." I chastise her, waving my index finger side to side. "You touch a pretty little hair on my head, and you die." Her hand stops, flinging backwards towards her chest immediately. "That a' girl." I purr, hiding a smirk. She couldn't touch me without hurting herself.

The other girls stare at the confrontation. I was sure that I looked like hell, puffy eyes, tear stained cheeks, and useless legs that had me laying against the wall for support. I gazed evenly at each girl in the half-circle for moments, shooting calm daggers to them until they turned away, not able to meet my gaze again. Finally, Lauren got up, and her crew followed behind her. With a flip of her silky long blonde hair over her right shoulder, she sniffed proudly, held her head high and stalked out of the room, other girls trying to imitate her as they walked in her quake. I had to stifle laughter.

When they all left, my mask crumbled and fell to the floor as I broke out in dry sobs. I tried to keep them quiet, but they wouldn't hush. I stayed like that, hands clamped over my wailing mouth, dry eyes that wanted to shed tears, legs twisted at an odd, unnatural angle, and torso slumped against the wall. It wasn't until what seemed forever did Jade and Alea find me.

They helped me up onto my unstable feet. They were the first two who had accepted me after I fell in love with Jer. And now, they were the first people to come to my rescue in such a dark time of mine. I hugged them both, hanging on tightly as if they were life vests and I was stranded in the middle of a rough ocean. They were the ones who guided me back to their room, and pampered me until I was a satisfied person once again.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I replayed how my hands had felt against her petite, lean shoulders. The angles fit together perfectly. I wanted to grab her then and there, run my hands along the length of her thin, wiry body, entwine our legs together and smother her in large, needy kisses. I wanted to take her then and there.

But there was something else, also, besides the undeniable physical attraction. I had felt my guard go down. The heavily shaded guard that I always kept, dropped completely, just by her looking into my eyes. She could see me at my most vulnerable moment, when she could have seen my soul. She could see me, but I couldn't see her. Not totally.

I saw some barriers drop for her, but not all of them. _Good_, I thought smugly. _I need a strong woman._

Then again, I wouldn't have her. She had to make her choice in just under two months, and I was really hoping she chose the life of a full vampire. She had so much potential, and, to see her half vampire was a sight, what would she be full-on vampire? Stunning? Gorgeous? Breathtakingly beautiful? I guessed all of the above.

Just the feel of her shoulders, though, a physical and emotional connection flowed between us at a level I couldn't comprehend.

But surely, Jer had been right. I needed to accept my weakness to get over it. Or, keep it.

I was hoping it would be the latter.


	14. Chapter Thirteen :Dinner And A Show:

_Sorry it took so incredibly long to update! I know it's been a pain waiting, but I just haven't been motivated to write lately up until yesterday, which is when I edited this whole entire chapter. I figured it was better to wait and give you something that I felt like I wanted to be interested in than just push through something and not enjoy it. Art is about expression, and writing is definitely a form of art, so I figured I would wait until I had some inspiration. I'm just sorry it took me so long. _

_Anon: No, that is not even close to the end of the book. I realize it's taken me awhile, but I will definitely give a heads up to when the story is coming to a close, as well as it will be fairly obvious that the conclusion of the story will be coming. We've still got a ways to go, though, and, hopefully, this will turn into the beginning of a trilogy. _

_Purple Halo: Panic attack, as you will read in the coming chapter. _

_Lilliana-aka-josefina: I wasn't aware Violet was having a child? :)_

_Alistarsmusic: I'm glad you see more to the Twins. I really like them, they are some of my favorite characters. Dimitri is quite the character, and, rather than answering your question about what he is going to do, I'm just going to let you read on! You'll see. _

_xXallegedangelXx: Thank you! One of my main goals as a writer is to diverge from the plot-driven type of story and add more description instead, so I'm glad I've been accomplishing that. _

_Have a great time reading! And, leave a review? _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Thirteen_

_**~Violet ~**_

When Dimitri called over the intercom, I made my voice as steady as it could be. Although I was happy letting my toe nails dry from the pedicure Jade and Alea had given me, I could still feel the small bubble of terror that had worked up inside of me and blossomed like poisonous weeds as I ran down the halls, numb of feeling from my hips down.

The twins had found me huddled in on myself in the dark room of the basement and coaxed me up with reassuring words and more than a little arm strength before collapsing me onto one of the beds in their room. They had given me a manicure and a pedicure, including complimentary massages all over my body. It was definitely what I needed to calm down from the anxiety attack that I had just experienced.

"Can you get that all set up for me?" Dimitri asked. "Violet? Are you listening?" I snapped back from my reverie, trying to comprehend the words I had only partly listened to over the intercom.

"Yeah, it's no problem at all."

"Thank you," He breathed, and the intercom made the fuzzy screeching noise it made when one line disconnected.

I had no true insight into what Dimitri had planned other than what he had asked of me, but I couldn't refuse his request, so, warily, I said a quick goodbye to the twins and tested my legs on the way over to Mia's room. Explaining what Dimitri had told me, I gazed at her, waiting for a reply.

"What?" She breathed. "Why?"

I shrug. "He just said that you were having dinner tonight."

"Formally? Like, with everyone else?" She asks me skeptically.

I shake my head. "No. Just the two of you." I can't help but crack a grin. Mia frowns in contrast.

I pat her leg, telling her that he will come by at 7:30. She nods and falls back down on the pillows. "Violet, I've been so hungry the past few days I've been…" She pauses. "Aware." I nod.

"You were starving, you know that?" I punch her in the arm, causing her to flinch. "Idiot. I'll send someone to bring food." With that, I smile and leave, wishing her the best of luck for the coming dinner.

_**~Dimitri~**_

"Honey, what's your rush?" Zair, my Mother, questions me as I sloppily sip down the wine.

"No rush. I am fatigued, is all." I muster a yawn that managed to actually be real. Jer sends me a disbelieving look, but I silently plead with him to keep quiet. He drops the faintest smile and returns his attention to Zair and Giuseppe, who were the two I actually had to convince.

"He has been extraordinarily busy, what with fending for the Halfling and whatnot," Jer helpfully pitches in. Giuseppe nods in understanding; Zair looks at me quizzically. I lazily take another sip of the blood-wine.

"Well now, I see how awesomely tiresome such a thing can be." Giuseppe muses. "What a brave little thing. Go on, Dimitri. Find yourself some rest." I nod in utter astonishment and appreciation. Kissing Zair on the cheek and nodding to Jer and Giuseppe, I ever-so-slightly slouch out of the room, just for good measure.

Slamming my room door behind me, I quickly change into jeans and a loose-fitting silk shirt while sliding the gold key to my room in my pocket before exiting the room once again and locking the door. They couldn't check on me if they couldn't get in my room.

Scanning the hallways, I ran through the house to Mia's chambers, where I stopped, took a deep breath, and gently knocked on the door.

Mia's door swung open absently before she peered around its edge. "Good evening." I smiled at her. She returned one tentatively.

I strolled into the room, quickly gathering two chairs as waiters silently rolled in food platters on a gleaming wooden table. I had had to pay them off-or threaten them-to keep them quiet about the event. Each one curtseyed and graciously backed out of the room. Mia inched the door back into its frame as the last ones leather shoes slapped out of the room.

"To what do I owe this visit?" She asks.

I take a seat, inclining her to join me. "Your health." I announce, raising a glass full of sparkling cider. The blood-wine would have been much better, but I knew she wouldn't be nearly as comfortable with that predicament.

She accompanied my champagne flute after a moment's hesitation, raising her glass to clink it with mine. The sound reverberated throughout the room, and hopefully my family-a floor above-didn't hear it. After pulling in a large sip of the cider, I cautiously say "My…family does not know I am here."

"Oh?" She muses.

"I left dinner with them. I _lied." _Mariella raises an eyebrow at my words.

"Should I take that as an act of chivalry or arrogance?" She wonders aloud. I shrug.

"Either or both will suffice." She smiles at me at that, so I lean over and remove the silver platter covering her dish, along with mine. "Not too outrageous, I presume."

Mariella smiles. "No, sir. Not at all." Spaghetti covered in tomato sauce, cheese, and butter was all it was, but she ravenously dug into it. I wasn't surprised-the recent mental lapse she had suffered had also created an eating inhibition in its wake. Luckily, she was quickly recovering.

"This is delicious," She mused, smiling up at me through red lips. Swirling spaghetti around my fork, I stuck it in my mouth and nodded in agreement.

She watched me curiously as she took a sip of the cider. "What is it you think of?" I ask her.

She studies me for a moment, deliberating between telling me or keeping it secret. "I'm thinking about why you would leave a family dinner to dine with me." She finally responds.

I look at her evenly, trusting her with the words I said. "You fascinate me, Mariella. You are like a puzzle to me. I am trying to piece you together in my mind."

Setting down her glass, she twirled her fork around the plate before thoughtfully looking back up at me. "Some puzzles are better left unsolved." She chooses her words precisely, enunciating each one so every syllable has a crystalline quality.

"Are you one of them?" I ask softly. She gazes at me through thick lashes, letting a clandestine smile paint her face. She tossed a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

"Possibly," she decides. "You are here, aren't you?" She talks wistfully, whether to herself or to me, I couldn't know.

"I _am _indeed." I agree. So we finished up our meal with small, meaningless conversation.

At the end of dinner, I stacked up the plates and utensils on the table and pushed the pile towards the center of the table. I would bring it down myself later tonight, when the household was asleep.

Mariella briefly excused herself; I was somewhat relieved. I needed to think through for a moment what exactly I was doing here.

_**~Mia~**_

I half sprinted towards the balcony, where chilled night wind whipped against the willow trees directly adjacent to me. A lone falcon's silhouette peeked out from underneath the moon.

What was he doing here? We had spent time together, but nothing drastic enough for an actual evening together. Had he been hoping for something _more_ from me? His parents had proposed that I become the next ruler; basically proposed to me _for _him. Shuddering at that thought, I inhaled a large breath. It didn't slow down my thumping heart beat. I had consented to eat dinner in my room with Dimitri.

Alone. With a vampire.

This was definitely not the most brilliant thing to do, letting him come in, spending time with him. Nausea struck me in my chest, and I huddled in on myself for a moment to let it pass. Once it had, I slowly stood up, transfixed on the woods ahead of me that seemed endless. I knew they ended somewhere, though; beyond them were my home and my life.

Gulping in another comforting yet chilling breath, I stepped back inside to find the dinner table rearranged into the corner of the room so that I-we-had more room. For what, I wasn't certain.

Dimitri was bent over examining the interior of the coffin on the right side of my room. I clambered up onto my bed and watched him intently until he finally turned around.

"This coffin in the room-" He starts. "It doesn't…intimidate you, no?"

I laugh. "It was freaky at first, but I got over it. It feels like part of the room now."

"Freaky," he muses. "Have you ever slept in it?" He asks me curiously.

"Not since the time you forced me to try it." I retort, just a little too harshly.

I walk over to the bathroom, clearing my throat. He immediately drops his hands. I close the door, maybe a little too fiercely, and lock the door.

Staring at my image in the mirror seemed different. I felt like I did that same gala night. Spinning the handle for the water, I touched my cheek with my available hand. It felt cold; colder than the normal human temperature.

It felt like Dimitri's skin.

I jerked my hand away, breathing heavily. "Mariella, are you okay?" Dimitri calls through the door.

I nod my head, only to realize he wouldn't see that. "Fine." I say, proud that I am able keep my voice steady.

I watched myself say the word in the mirror. Something was different with my mouth. I smiled, revealing my teeth. To my utter horror, four of my teeth have extended well beyond what they should have been. I choke back a scream.

I scramble to unlock the door. The mirror was playing tricks on me; that had to be it. Throwing open the door, I shove past Dimitri's chest and walked down the hall, into the darkness that I had walked through around a month ago.

"Mariella, what are you doing?" Dimitri calls.

"Wait a minute." I say. I check the distance I have gone, judging it to be a fair amount. "Step aside." I call to him, throwing my arms up towards the ceiling. I count the steps down in my head.

_One, two, three! _I jumped up on the balls of my feet and propelled myself through the air in a front flip. As my feet touched the ground, I threw myself over again for a round-off. From that, I did an ariel in the air, landing backwards to do a back flip and then a backwards round off. It was invigorating to feel the air whip through my hair and beat against my face.

I stood there, breathing hard, my hands above my head. I turned around, slowly dropping my arms to look at Dimitri. His jaw was hanging open in surprise. I smiled widely, proud to have done so well.

Dimitri's lips lift up to form a dazzling smile. He stepped over to me. "They're coming in, I see." He murmurs, his gaze locked on my mouth.

"Wh-" I started to say 'What are?' but quickly shut my mouth, realizing what he meant. "No. No, I'm not." His pointer and middle fingers came up to touch my upper lips delicately. "But you are." His tone was gentle.

I wanted to scream and thrash and kick, but, at that moment, I could only stay frozen. He leaned one of his arms up against a wall. I leaned forward, slowly, as he did the same. I could only focus on his pale, soft lips.

Before I knew it, our lips were touching, moving together. His were soft and sweet, screaming life into me. It was delectable, and I wanted it to last forever. But it ended as quickly as it came. He pulled back, shock painted across his face. I'm sure it was on mine too.

He cleared his throat. "You're good." He caught my surprised face. "At gymnastics, I mean."

"I've trained since before I could walk." I tell him, flustered by the abrupt change of topic. He offers his arm.

"We should be getting back."

"Yeah." I reply shakily, accepting his outstretched arm. Right as we were turning around the last corner towards my room, Zair, Dimitri's mother, steps in front of us, surprise crossing her face.

"Oh, Dimitri! And Mariella," She says, turning her gaze towards me. "Here I was thinking I would have to wake you up, since you were so tired at dinner earlier." She addresses Dimitri. This reminds me of what he said to me earlier: _"I left dinner with them. I lied."_ He really had! "Your brother has decided to make his final announcement to us of his arrangement this evening. Your attendance is requested…" She turns towards me. "Both of you." She smiles a brilliantly white smile before turning on a velvet purple six-inch heel and striding away from us, obviously expecting our footsteps behind her.

"What arrangement?" I ask Dimitri, looking up at him as he tows me forward by the crook of my elbow and a hand lightly feathering the small of my back. He doesn't dare look down at me for more than an instant. Did the kiss really make Dimitri, the one in line to the vampire throne, that nervous?

Dimitri leads me into a small (compared to the rest of the mansion's rooms) room, lit by a flaming fireplace. Ten red velvet chairs with glistening buttons sat around a circular rug with intricate designs. All of the chairs but two are occupied. I look around the room anxiously as Zair goes to take a seat in the chair next to Giuseppe, clasping his hand. Jer is sitting on the left of his father, and to Jer's right is Violet.

I try to catch her eye. What the _hell_ was she doing here? I see her look up at me for a moment before burying her head further to the side. Truly confused, I look up to Dimitri, hoping he will provide an explanation.

He pulls me towards one of the red, high-backed chairs, sitting down and then setting me down on top of him, so both of my legs sloped over one of the very plush armrests. It obviously _wasn't _the kiss that had him on edge, then.

I see Giuseppe eye Dimitri and I curiously before picking up a spotless silver spoon and daintily tapping it to his champagne flute, which is nearly filled to the rim with a red liquid that I could no longer deny. "Attention, please, dearest family." Giuseppe's voice rings through the small room. "Only the smallest, most elite number of us is here tonight to personally hear the news of my son's engagement. Of course this was publicly announced at the gala last month, but I certainly feel that a more proper, intimate gathering of family was called for in an occasion as joyous as this."

Excited murmurs of congratulations rustle through the crowd. Shock struck me paralyzed; Dimitri was engaged? Anger flared through me. And he had kissed _me _in the hall?

I wanted to scream long streams of curses at him, but the only words I could come up with were _You bastard. _I couldn't move my mouth or tongue, though, so the words originated and died in my head.

Giuseppe stood up and clapped Jer's shoulder. "Stand up, son, with your fiancé." Jer threw a quick glance to his right and stood up slowly, dragging a satin-gloved hand up with him. It seemed to be restraining his clutch. He pulled a little more. I caught movement of his lips, probably whispering something down to his fiancé.

Violet stood up, huddled proudly underneath one of Jer's large muscled arms. He kissed her cheek and she blushed a furious, vibrant red.

"This is Violet Nightingale, my son's fiancé." Giuseppe's loud voice announced. If I hadn't been in shock and in captivity, I would have rolled my eyes and muttered _"No shit, Sherlock." _ Although, under the circumstances, I kept my mouth shut. It could now move and form words, and I was barely refraining from screaming out at Violet _What the hell are you doing? _

It felt as if I was locked in a cage with walls that sealed out all sound from the inside. I could see Violet, her black raven wing hair twisted up into an elegant bun as she smiled, blushing furiously. Jer kissed the top of her head.

"Their wedding will be the fifth of this coming January. You all are invited." Giuseppe throws me a pointed look. I could almost hear his voice saying matter-of-factly to me, "If you became a vampire, you wouldn't have to miss it. Violet would be deliriously happy if you were there."

The small crowd clapped and cake was brought out. To my surprise, everyone took a portion. Violet strategically kept her gaze locked on everyone and everything but me as she murmured "thank you's" between tender bites of cake.

"We can leave." Dimitri's hushed voice lingered in my ear. I nodded and tried to hoist myself up off of his lap, but it was obvious I wasn't getting anywhere.

Dimitri's arms caught me before my weakness was too noticeable. He casually slung one arm around my shoulder, giving me enough support to walk to the door. Giuseppe looked up. "Leaving so early?" He asked.

Dimitri glanced down at me. "She's tired." I nodded my head feebly for emphasis on his statement. Now that the point was brought up, I found that I was exhausted.

Giuseppe eyed me suspiciously, but when a large yawn came out of my mouth, he laughed. "Just like a kitten. Good night, Dimitri. Mariella."

"G'night," I mumble, shuffling my feet across the floor with Dimitri's unnoticeable aid. Once he shut the door behind us, he swooped my feet up off the ground. I was, once again, cradled against his chest.

I can feel him relax and loosen his muscles to run, but I put a hand on his chest and budge my head closer to him. "Don't run." I mumble, opening one eye.

He nods. "Okay." He keeps his onyx eyes on my one open eye until I just can't keep it open anymore. Once my eyes are both closed, he starts to walk.

"Dimitri?" I mumble against his white cotton shirt.

"Hm?"

"Thank you." My voice was drowsy. Even to my own ears, it didn't sound normal.

"For what?" He asks, one of his hands absently stroking my befuddled hair.

I yawn, a high-pitched squeak escaping my lips. "For keeping me standing all the time."

He obviously finds it humorous, because he laughs; full out laughs. It was a melodious sound to my ears. "You're very welcome, Mariella."

I tug on his shirt with a small, weak fist. "Mia. It's Mia."

"Okay." He pauses. "Mia." The name seemed to sound good on his tongue, because I could feel his chest tighten with a pained smile. I didn't need to open my eyes to know. Dimitri was rolling me away from his arms and into the bed. "Oh, and by the way," He whispers, his lips brushing my temple. "I do not think you are a kitten. I think you are a tigress who poses as a kitten to seduce her prey." I chuckle as I feel his lips curve into a smile. "Goodnight, Mia."

I am woken with a start the next morning remembering the events from the night before. The dinner, the mirror, the gymnastics, the kiss, Violet…

Violet. How could she have done this to me? I felt my cheeks flush with a hot anger as roiling bubbles of it burst in my stomach, splashing the contents over my whole inner core. I could feel the burning sensation seep into the marrow of my bones. It crawled up and over my tendons. The anger-driven flame filled my lungs, so that each breath I took made the flame grow. It climbed its way up into the flushed color of my eyes. Somewhere, in my brain, I knew that this fire was not rational, and not real, for that matter. But, nevertheless, I leapt off of the bed in a front flip and landed gracefully on my feet. I languidly paced over to the bathroom, where the mirror waited to confront me.

In the reflective pool of depth hanging on the wall, I saw an inhuman being. Eyes that were flushed with a silvery purple hue of anger and pride greeted me. Full, pink, pursed lips were worn proudly on an angular face, just below the small, ski jump nose. Sleek, shiny auburn hair streaked with natural red shades tumbled stealthily down the small shoulders, to just above the slim waist.

It was the face of a breathtaking warrior. She parted her lips to reveal sharp, moon white teeth. All four canines, raised in a questioning threat, trimmed down to razors. She smiled when I did before turning away from the mirror.


	15. Chapter Fourteen :TwoFaced:

_Sorry for how long this has taken! Anyways, if you haven't yet noticed, I have started a new story titled "Shipwrecked." If you like this, checking it out is definitely worth the time. Don't worry, I'm not putting this one on hold for that one! They will be worked on at the same time. Also, sorry for the wait (as always). I really just wish this story would write itself, so you could all enjoy it without these pesky hiatuses. I try, I do! It WILL get finished. _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Fourteen_

_**~Dimitri~**_

"It was…it was…." I stopped, ambling through my mind for a word.

"Spectacular? Beyond thoughts? Amazing?" Jer provided smugly.

I grin. "All of the above. I mean, you should have seen her performance, and then…it was just…."

Jer clapped my shoulder. "I know, brother. But how did she handle the announcement?"

I blink a few times. "What announcement?"

A raised eyebrow and a mocking chuckle answers me. "About myself and Violet."

"Oh. That." I hesitated, wondering how to tell him. I actually wasn't positive myself. "Well, I'm not sure, actually."

Jer leans forward, scrutinizing me intently with his eyes before swiftly standing up. "Well, I would love to sit and chat, truly. But I have to go and visit Violet." I could hear the earnest honesty in his voice, so I nodded my head and excused him.

I decided that sitting in an empty room was rather pointless, so I decided to go see her. I'd been dying to since the night before, anyways. Swinging the door open, I took the stairs two at a time and tried to calm my fast pace. It didn't turn out into anything slower than a fast walk. The handle on her door seemed to weigh so much as I forced it to look at the ground.

I had never walked into her room to find it in such a disheveled state. The bed was a mess, and the balcony door was closed. The only light in the room was simmering its way into the main room from the bathroom.

"Mia?" I call hesitantly. I turned to look into the bathroom.

She was standing there-simply standing there- and she took my breath away. Her usual glossy auburn hair showed with natural red lowlights, falling down to the small of her back. Her lips were full pink slices of a ripe plum. Her usually hazel eyes were a dangerous silvery purple hue, and her whole face was lit up with a burning passion that I could only too well comprehend. Her shoulders were squared, her back was tall, and she held her head high. She was a glorious warrior, prepared for anything. The epistle of a vampirical queen. Her vampiric side was showing, rather than the human half, which was normally dominant.

She turned to me, a small smile opening her lips. Four small, premature fangs were embedded in her gums.

"Mariella. Not Mia." I whispered. She cocked her head to one side, clearly feigning innocence. Her small smile grew into a full blown grin, her white teeth momentarily blinding me.

She walked over to me with a cat-like grace that only vampires-and cats-could achieve. Stopping just inches away from me, she lazily drew her forefinger down the length of my chest, doing everything but make me lethargic all over my body. "Good morning." She whispered, her voice high and melodic, like continuous siren bells echoing off of large cliffs. It reverberated through my ears, knocking around in my head until I felt dizzy.

"How are you feeling?" I ask her, trying to piece my mind back together.

"Better, now that you're here." She whispered, inching her feet closer to me, until her toes were overlapping my Italian leather clad feet, her chest nearly pressed against mine. "Can I make a confession?" She asked, tilting her head up to look me in the eyes.

"Of course," I tell her, intrigued.

She put the palm of her hand flush against my chest, and through the thin material of my shirt, her palm sent tingles running along my torso. "I can't stop thinking about last night." She offered, giving me a coy smile.

"It was a rather eventful night." I offer, hoping she's referring to what I certainly couldn't get off of my mind since it happened.

She tilted her head to the side. "Really?" She asks, thoughtfully playful. "I seem to only be able to remember one. Little. Piece." She pokes me in the chest between the last three words. I inadvertently lean closer to her.

"I seem to remember that little portion of time as well," I tell her truthfully, leaning forwards. "Vividly." She smirks at me for a moment, leaving my head hanging lower than it should be, right in front of her before her hands grab my shoulders, forcing me to barrel into her.

I take her face into my hands, crushing my mouth against hers and backing her up against the wall. Her left hand tangles into mine as I crush it against the wall, keeping my other hand on her cheek. She parts her lips to let me explore her mouth with my tongue. One of her legs creeps up my thigh and rests on my hip. I pull it up, supporting it as she pulls her other leg up so she is straddling my waist.

Before I know what's happening, her hips are pushing against my stomach, forcing me to walk backwards until my knees buckle against the edge of the bed. Her vampiric side comes with strength, too, it seems.

She's on top of me, undoing the buttons down my shirt, planting kisses as she goes. Once it's off, I flip us both over, lying her out completely. Starting at her temple, I kiss down to her cheekbone, her nose, the corners of her mouth, over her jaw, down her neck, until I reach her collarbone. She lifts her hands over her head and arches her back, giving me permission to quickly slip off her tank top. I kiss her shoulders, in between her breasts, down to her stomach. She moans and tangles her fingers in my hair.

I slide my tongue across her stomach in swirls before blowing gently, eliciting a large tremble from her in return. I chuckle against her stomach before she's grabbed me underneath my arms and pulled my face back up to hers, evening the playing field.

"You're very impatient," I murmur against her mouth, sliding my tongue across her teeth. She bites my lower lip. "You don't even know the half of it." She manages around my lip. I kiss her ravenously once again, sliding my fingers through hers and raising our hands above our heads. "It is a quality you will want to learn when you become queen."

She pulls her face away from mine, a deadly playful look on her face. "Who says I want to be queen?" She smirks at me. "Maybe I'm just using you." I growl and flip her over, moving her hair aside and kissing her shoulder blades, up to her neck, and nibbling on her earlobe before whispering, "I won't take _no _for an answer, at this point." She chuckles into the comforter.

"We'll see," Is all she gives me in return, which worries me, because honestly? Does she not want to be with me after this? It is rather quick by human standards, but, in our world, you often have little to none intimate relations with your spouse if a marriage is arranged.

She flips back so she is facing me, her hands sliding down my back as she yanks my mouth down to hers. Smiling, she says "You're very demanding." "Mmhmm." I murmur against her lips, letting her feel my mouth with her tongue. "That may be a trait you'll want to learn to get rid of before inheriting the throne." She says, her tongue hitting the roof of my mouth as she speaks. I laugh whole-heartedly.

"Touché." I tell her, pulling away and sitting up, running my fingers through my hair to smooth it down a little bit. I fetch for my shirt, and she pouts, sticking her lower lip out well beyond where it normally is. I lean into her as I button my shirt back up. "Later, yes?"

"Mmm, you do seem to make me wait for such a long time." She murmurs against my lips before giving me a quick peck again and slipping her shirt over her head. Mariella leans her chest against my head so she is lying against me as we twine our fingers together.

Although I was thoroughly enjoying her vampirical…tendencies, I knew I had to ask her the question I had been sent to ask. "How are you faring after last night's announcement?"

Immediately, Mariella's face changes from a seductive vampire to a warrior. She is furious and confused and hurt all at once, and although only the anger shows on her face, I know the feeling all too well.

"Mia? Are you alright?" I ask, lightly brushing her cheek. She grabs my hand and digs her fingernails into it. I flinch.

"You knew about it the whole time." She merely states it; she does not question.

"Yes." I tell her plainly.

"And you never once told me."

"It was never my place to tell." I reply calmly. Her nails dig deeper into my flesh. Spinning around, she looks at me venomously.

"If I am ever to be your queen, it will _always _be your place to tell me." She hisses furiously, eyes flashing. Almost before I can comprehend, she is out of my lap and out of the room. I had forgotten her vampire half had been dominating.

I sigh inwardly. It was going to be a rough day.

_**~Mariella~**_

All the anger had dissolved when Dimitri had come into the room. It was as if it all fizzled away, only to be replaced by a crazy seductive goddess who couldn't seem to get enough of him. Even as the actions and the words I said to him left my mouth, I couldn't believe _I_ was saying them.

However, when he had mentioned the announcement from the previous night, all the anger had been cooked up once again, and I was livid.

As I ran through the hallways, I noticed a maid walking through the hallway, carrying a handful of clean, folded towels in her arms. Her eyes widened as she saw me, and she stumbled in her smooth gait, causing her to drop all the folded towels. She quivered as I sped past her and the newly made heap of unfolded towels. _I_ seriously wanted to help her, but the crazy vampire goddess who had taken over my body didn't give her a second glance. I—we—needed to get this done now.

Finding the steep stairwell, I took the stairs downwards two at time. I followed them down two stories until I reached the maids' headquarters and rooms. Slowly, I counted down the doors to number 246. On a slow, shady day, Violet had claimed the number to be hers.

I didn't bother knocking; I had the authority to walk in whenever. She was a maid. She was _my _maid.

I swung the door open with what I thought was calm power. It crashed into the wall noisily, unlike I had planned. A few alarmed voices were heard from the kitchen, but, other than that and the ringing remnants of sound from the crashing door, the room was silent.

I walked through both the bathroom and the bedroom to come to the conclusion that Violet wasn't around. The fact that a few packed suitcases were laying on the bed helped me decide that point. I held my chin high and walked out of the room, leaving the door lolling open. That way she was exposed; anyone could see her treachery.

I slowly went up the stairs. There was no point in rushing. I saw a few maids trail down the stairs, but not without glancing at me first and immediately faltering in their step to look away. I didn't cast a second glance in their direction.

The flight of stairs towards the upper chambers was much easier on my feet. It was carpeted and not nearly as steep as it curled upwards, not to mention the wide steps, in comparison to the small, stuffy steps that led towards the maids' chambers.

I had no idea which room it would be, but I listened closely for one of their voices. Where one was, the other was.

As it turned out, his voice sounded as if it was amplified. The door was to my left. I reflected over knocking, but quickly decided against it. Jer would already know I was here.

I quickly pushed down on the handle and made my way into the room, where Jer and Violet were laying on the bed, both propped up on their elbows with about two feet distance between them. Jer looked up, smiling. Violet saw me and ducked away under a thick veil of raven-wing hair.

"Hello, Mariella." Jer says sweetly. He didn't sound aggravated or angry at all that I had barged into his room. "I assume you are here to speak to Violet."

I stare at him passively. I didn't want to talk to him.

"Well then. I will leave you to it." He smiles and kisses Violet quickly on the cheek. She jumps a little at his touch but before she can react, he is rolling off the bed and standing on his feet.

He nods. "Always a pleasure, Mariella." I manage a small twitch of my head before he strides out of the room.

I could tell he was a good guy, whether he was a vampire or not. He didn't rub it in my face by saying 'fiancé' or kiss her full on for a long time. He simply left with a smile.

Violet sat up and smoothed her shirt over. I noticed the top three buttons of her blouse were undone. I managed a disgusted eye roll.

I wasn't going to start first; it would proclaim the weak anger I was feeling. Instead, I held my chin high, crossed my arms across my chest, and surveyed the room.

It was a plain room. Soft black material adorned the walls. A dark chestnut dresser was backed up against the wall to my left. A television sat in the upper right corner of where two walls met, facing the bed, which blatantly wore a black bedspread and matching duvet. Sitting atop it was Violet. I scanned her over in less than a second, although I got everything I needed.

She covered up her bottom half with the comforter, pulling it self-consciously up to her mid-stomach. Her glossy painted nails had various chips in them, causing an ugly mix-and-match style to her fingers. Her hair was a tangled mess, like someone had been grabbing it roughly. A red, irritated hickey was delicately planted on the side of her neck. Underneath her eyes, dark red patches indicated the permanent blush she was wearing. I could also see peeling skin on her bottom lip, the effect from chewing it too often.

I looked away in disgust, but kept my face blank. I focused on the blinds on the left side of the room. No light could filter through them at all.

A small 'pop' interrupted my staring session. I turned my head back to Violet, just as a fourth button came undone and slipped off her button down shirt, hitting the floor. She scrambled to the floor to reach it. I went into motion.

With some unreal power, I was over by the side of the bed and flipping the button in my hand, examining it carefully. The holes in which the threads are supposed to lace through were torn into gaping ovals. It sported scratches all around the surface.

Again, I was back over to my spot before, loosely clutching the button in a small fist as I went back again into the motionless state. Violet eyed my small fist that encased the button. I saw her calculate her chances of getting the button back.

She obviously thought they were pretty good, because she kicked the covers off and sprinted towards me. I stifled an outburst of laughter. It was like she was in slow motion. In one fluid movement, I hid my right fist behind my back and shot out my left arm to capture her impact, create my own, and send them both back at her. She went flying backwards, feet in the air for a moment before crashing onto the bed. She had just barely missed the headboard.

A violent tremble possessed her body as she scrambled up against the headboard and tucked her knees up to her chest. "M-m-Mia?" She trembled as she said it.

I shook my head, and walked impeccably slowly over to the bed. "No. You don't call me 'Mia' anymore. You call me Mariella, or you do not address me at all." A shadow of a threat wrapped around my vocal cords as I said it.

Tears streamed down Violet's face. "Mia, I'm s-so s-so-so-sorry." She whimpers and tucks her head between her knees. I vaguely notice her bottom half is only covered by lacy lingerie.

I stalked around to the side of the bed and bent down to meet her eye level. "No, you're not." I started to walk towards the door, but she clutched my wrist with a medium-strong force-for a human, that is.

"Mia! Of course I am! I w-wanted to t-tell you but I-I-I just couldn't!" She hiccups as she finishes her excuse.

I spin on my heel as a guttural hiss passed through my lips. I felt two small, painless pricks on my bottom lip. "Were the words unable to say? Are you mentally charged, Violet? Can you not _speak_?" I spit the last word at her. She trembled as I moved my face close to hers. "From now on, you are my maid, and you will call me Miss or Mariella." I yanked my wrist away from her and pushed my chin higher as I walked out of the room, managing not to give her a second glance. Heart throbbing sobs emanated from the bed as she fiercely wept. I shut the door quietly behind me and lowered my chin the slightest bit as I walked through the halls.

I only barely made it to my room, where Dimitri stood impassively on the balcony. He turned his head towards me and stared at me, as if he was pondering who I was. I kept a straight face for a moment before sprinting over towards the bed and wetting a pillow with salty tears.

I didn't hear his footsteps anymore. But when I felt the bed shift and his hands on my head stroking my hair, I heard him whisper "Mia. Not Mariella."

_**~Dimitri~**_

Her face crumbled back into the one of the hybrid human I knew a moment after she walked in. I heard the shaky breaths she took in between her silent sobs.

Every vampire in the house would have heard the exchange. Every vampire within an eight-mile radius would have heard, because that is just how incredible our hearing is. I am thoroughly surprised Jer did not interfere, and I am surprised that I did not rush down there to see _my _queen in action. Because she would be mine, whether she knew it or not, now. I couldn't stay away from her.

She was fierce and determined. She would be _mine. _One glance at a face like that, with a beautifully terrifying hiss like that, would send anyone into a deep fit of unconscious delight and horror. I didn't just ache to have her now; I needed her. _I won't stop at anything to get her, _I vowed silently as I rubbed her heaving back.

"Scoot over." I told her gruffly. She looked up at me with her hazel eyes. I was somewhat relieved to see the hazel instead of the silver.

"What?" She asked.

I nodded towards the other side. "Scoot over." She paused in her tears for a moment before rolling over to the other side of the bed. I quickly ran over to lock her bedroom door (because surely someone would come to ruin the moment) before I walked over and hopped onto the bed. I patted my leg, and she immediately took the offer and laid her head in my lap. I brushed her hair with lustrous fingers as I watched the tears roll down her soft, flushed cheeks.

I pulled her up to sit in my lap. She was hesitant at first, but eventually obliged and wrapped her arms around my chest. I took the chance to cradle her against me. Her tears stroked my cotton shirt with their long, blazing trails.

We sat there, silent, for a long while. Banging at the door interrupted us. She sighed, wiped her face, and looked up at me gratefully.

She seemed to realize whose lap she was curled in, and she scrambled backwards with shock written on her face. I'm sure it was plain on mine, too. She mouthed 'holy shit' before straightening her shirt and walking over to get the door. How odd, that she was uncomfortable in my lap when only minutes before she had been straddling me.

Confused joy swept over me. Because, while she obviously felt it too, only one half of her would act on it, and getting that other half of her to accept it would be miserable.

_**~Mia~**_

His hand rubbed my back soothingly for minutes before he gruffly said "Scoot over." I looked up at him cautiously. "Why?"

He nodded towards the other side of the bed. "Scoot over." I stopped the waterworks for a moment, contemplating my options, before complying and rolling over to the other side. He ran over to the door, locked it, and came back to sit on the bed. It both disturbed and flattered me that he locked the door. He obviously saw that I didn't want to be disturbed by anyone at the moment.

Of course, I guess he was an exception.

He patted his right leg lightly, indicating me to come over. I gladly did. The feel of him was soothing. He stroked my hair softly as I kept crying silently. It was comforting.

I couldn't believe that I had hissed at Violet. Surely, the girl that had been in the room one floor above my head wasn't me. It was some creature, some feral, breathtaking, ferocious creature. But certainly not me.

But it _had_ been me. I had thrown her across the room, made her weep mercifully, ran across the room at an inhuman speed, and growled at her the way I suspected a lion would.

A tremble not too unlike Violet's passed through me. Dimitri noticed, and pulled me up into his arms to drop me softly onto his lap. I pulled away for a moment.

_Ah, what the hell? I couldn't sin much more. _Tears lazily leaked down my cheeks and nose, getting both Dimitri and myself wet. He didn't seem to mind.

The feel of his skin through the thin cotton shirt he wore was irresistibly comforting and sexy. I wrapped my arms around his upper stomach. He wrapped his arms around me in a cradle position, and I hung on tightly to him, like I was stuck in a raging river, and he was the one rock that could save me.

A large, angry banging at my door interrupted us. I sighed sadly and wiped my tears away with shaky hands before looking up into his face. I realized whose lap I was happily cuddled into and scrambled backwards. What was I thinking? What was _he _thinking?

I wasn't sure if I mouthed holy shit, but I quickly straightened my tear-stained shirt and walked over to get the door. Cynthia and Jer were standing there, Cynthia with a large bowl of steaming soup and vegetables in her gloved hands, Jer wearing a look of anger, confusion, hurt and worry on his face.

"Mia! How would you like some?" Cynthia said, oblivious to the eye contact Jer gave me when she said 'Mia.' "Oh, never the mind, I don't care if you want some or not. You're getting it!" Cynthia scooted past me and put the bowl down on a drop out table she had apparently slung on her arm. I hadn't seen it.

"Jer." I nodded and put on a cautious small smile. I didn't want to overplay it; I had just hissed at his fiancé and slammed her onto the bed, almost causing a gouge in her head from smashing her into the headboard of the bed.

He nodded. "Mariella." He peeked around my shoulder to look at Dimitri. "I'm here to see my brother. It is with well-mannered reasons that I steal him away."

I smile full-heartedly at that before sweeping my arm towards him. "Take him. He's no use while I'm eating." I wink over my shoulder to Cynthia. She grins.

Dimitri gives me a look that I can't read before retreating from the room with Jer. "Nice to see you, once again, Mariella." Jer breathes out slowly.

"As you." I reply. Dimitri opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "I'm going to go get my tattoo finished. You can join me when you're done with your" I wave my hand in a circle. "Discussion. Deal?" He nods. So we all walk out, Cynthia trailing behind me with the soup in arms.

**~Dimitri~**

I sat down in one of the soft, dark red leather chairs that were pinched with gold buttons. Jer sat opposite me on a replica chair. I folded my right leg over my left leg uneasily.

"Are you asking me to be your first man, Jer? Because, otherwise, I would really love to go and eat a little. I'm famished."

Jer rolled his eyes at my dry humor. "No, you already know you are the first man. Now shut up and listen."

I looked up, amazed, at my older brother. He was never so lax with his words. I quickly looked over him.

His eyes were bloodshot and wary as they tried to rest calmly on me. He wasn't clean-shaven, and stubble was appearing across his jaw line. Instead of the normal cotton shirt, he wore a black button-up shirt. The collar was completely unbuttoned, along with almost all the other buttons. It stopped showing in the middle of his chest. He had traded in his usual black suede pants for gray sweats.

I stared at him, concern building up. "Are you feeling alright?"

Jer shook his head. "Not anymore. Violet has been wailing non-stop for awhile. She won't talk, or eat, or take a nap, or any of the sort. She lays on her stomach and cries into her pillow."

"I'm…sorry for your non-stop headache?" I say, dark humor shading my voice.

He glares at me. "I suspect Mariella has something to do with it. Considering the red, patchy globs that have built up underneath Violet's eyes and comparing them to Mariella, they have similar ones. My guess is she has been crying?"

I nod. "Yes, she has."

"Did she tell you why?" Jer asked me, leaning forward in anticipation.

I shake my head. "No, she has not. But I certainly heard the whole confrontation. Didn't you?" I stop, considering the idea of telling Jer how Mia had transformed from her usual, quirky, humored self to the pristine glamour warrior.

"Dimitri. Everyone heard it." Jer stood up and clapped a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed. "I just came in, and her vampire side had taken over. It's starting, Jer."

Jer rubbed his jaw. "Well, I'm sure that had to do with what happened." He paused. "I thought that the two side changing was a folk tale, not truth."

"As I also, brother." I say. "We will have to put up with it until she makes her decision."

"And plead she makes the right decision." Jer murmurs. I nod in agreement.

"Let me go speak to Violet," I say quietly. "I may be able to explain to her what happened. If, that is, I can figure out the basics of what _did_ happen."

Jer nods. "I have to go; the feeding stock is withering."

I take a hesitant sniff of the air. Through many thicker scents, I could smell desiccated decay. "Take a shower when you are done, brother." I say.

I always do." He replies steadily before quietly closing the office double doors behind him.


	16. Chapter Fifteen :Strange Fits of Passion

_Wow, this took a long time. Please don't hate me. There's been a lot of turmoil in my family lately and I just had the most hectic term…and a serious case of writer's block. But now, my inspiration is coming back and I'm hoping to write more in both of my stories. Please, please enjoy (and then review) this chapter. I love all of you who are still reading this, and hanging onto it. _

_XoXo_

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Fifteen _

_**~Violet~**_

A quiet rapping on my door stopped the sob that was gathering-once again-in my throat. I quickly rubbed all the fresh trails the tears had left away from my cheeks and ran a shaky hand through my tangled hair before walking over to open the door.

It was only Dimitri. I had been hoping it would be Mia, coming to apologize. Then, she would say sorry to Mia back for keeping a secret, they would hug it out, and things would go back to normal. Maybe it would even change Mia's mind; if I was changing, it wouldn't be so bad. _Friends forever, right? _I thought sheepishly.

"Hello." He said quietly. I could tell he was trying to muster up the courage to go over and take a seat in the same room where a sobbing girl was. That must be hard for all guys, nonetheless a vampire prince.

"Hi." I croaked. My voice cracked in that one syllable word. I guess I was having a horrible day.

I turned away from him and crumpled back down onto the bed. I felt him sit down on a chair across the room. His footsteps were silent to a human's ears, so I heard nothing. Instead, I felt him deliberately step on the shaky wooden floorboard buried beneath the carpet.

I scoffed. I knew this room too well. I could live in it blindfolded, as long as there was food and drink. Dimitri seemed to hear my small scoff, and quickly made his way over to the chair as I buried my face into a soft, tearstained pillow.

"So…" Dimitri started hesitantly. "I came to talk to you about Mia."

I laughed and managed a devilish grin. "So, you call her Mia now too?"

Dimitri's eyes quickly bolted down to look into his lap. "Yes. She asked me to, so I will." Tears pricked my eyes; Mia had asked me to do the exact opposite mere hours ago.

Dimitri looked up right as I was wiping my face on the pillow. He smirked. "Jer is going to be so angry. You ruined his silk pillow." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. You can always order another one." I said, dismissing the comment. "Go ahead, Dimitri. Defend the girl you love with excuses. I'll listen."

I saw Dimitri's eyes bulge. "What? No, I don't love her." I heard the waver in his voice. "No no no. I don't love her." He cleared his throat. "But I did come to talk to you about why she acted the way she did."

After what seemed eons of waiting for him to continue, he shook his head and woke himself up from his thinking trance. "Violet, you do understand that Mia…sorry, Mariella, is a half-human, right?"

I nodded, thinking suspiciously _What does that have to do with anything? _

"And, the other half of her is vampire. Do you understand?" He asks me slowly. I nod my head. "For half breeds," I stop him mid-sentence with a snort.

"Did you just say 'half breeds?'" I asked him unbelievably. He nodded.

"Yes. That is what she is. For half breeds, when they are young, one side will be dominant over the other. When the half breed reaches anywhere between ages sixteen to twenty, their other half starts to kick in. Are you following?"

I nod my head, a little confused. Dimitri sees. He sighs.

"It's like an hourglass. After a period of time, when the right grain of sand falls, there will be less sand in the top and more in the bottom. It's the same with half breeds; their time with that dominant part of them is up. They are going to be switching on and off between their two sides for another good portion of their life, until they reach mid-age which, in Mariella's case, would probably be seventy five years old, the chemicals in their body will balance out the two sides."

Okay, I was understanding now.

"Mariella has had her life as a mostly human. Now, she is beginning to see a fierce vampire-in-battle side. The changes will also bring mood swings."

"So, it's kind of like getting your period?" I asked him. His face contorted into one of discomfort and disgust.

"I-I guess." He stammered. My mouth popped open into a long "O". Had Dimitri just stammered? Mariella was working wonders on him.

"So, what you saw today, unfortunately, was the warrior side of Mia's vampire instincts. I'm just surprised that she had all the speed of a regular vampire."

"And the fangs?" I whispered, trembling. I clutched the pillow tighter to my chest and curled my fingers in on the silk material.

"Again, I'm surprised they came in so early. But I doubt they were fully grown." Dimitri sighed. "You were just hiding the wrong secret, in the wrong time, in the wrong place."

I nodded. How typical it was of me to have that luck. "Will she be mad for long?"

Dimitri chuckled. "Mia? Oh, no." He paused. "Mariella, on the other hand? Warriors don't take apologies well."

_**~Dimitri~**_

"So, will she ever forgive me? All of her, I mean." Violet asked me, sniffling. I suppressed a sigh. Violet was overwhelming me with her questions.

_Since when have girls drained my energy? I always drain them. _I thought humorlessly. I don't know what Mia had done, but she was working a number on me.

"I think so. Unless she chooses the…." I paused, uncomfortable with what I had to say next. "The other option." Of course I meant death; Violet figured that out and her face distorted into one of loss and pain.

"Dimitri." She said suddenly, looking up at me with smoldering eyes. "Don't let her choose." I stared at Violet for a moment before standing up and throwing my fist down on the chair I was sitting on, causing it to crumble down in broken, splintered pieces.

"Dammit, why does everyone keep telling me that?" I asked angrily, facing away from her.

"Because everyone can see it; it's written across your face like a billboard sign." Violet's voice didn't waver as she said it.

I turned back to her, opening my mouth to speak. She held up a hand. "Don't even try to deny it, Dimitri." She cracked a small smile. "Everyone thinks you're pathetic for denying it. Don't let her get away." Her eyes turned serious and her lips fell back into her normal pursed, pouty expression. "Thanks for the talk." With that, she stood up and walked over to the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on, signaling me to leave.

As I shut the door behind me, I met Jer in the hallway. The stench of decay clung on his clothing. "Ah, holy hell, Jer." I wrinkled my nose in disgust. He frowned.

"It's not fair to make their friends dispose of them." Jer said quietly.

He had recently been down in the blood chambers, where Giuseppe kept humans for his use. When they were either too drained, weak, or starved, someone had to go dispose of the bodies. While we had maids for that, Jer usually ended up doing it. He didn't believe it was fair to make the maids see their friends' corpses. In fact, he didn't even find it fair to use the humans to their advantage.

"I'll do it next time, Jer." I say quietly, glancing down at my leather shoes quickly before looking back up at him. He nods.

"Okay."

"Violet is in the shower; you can go use mine if you would like." I offered him. He raised an eyebrow. I suspected it was from my knowing Violet was in the shower. "I was talking to her about Mia." I gave my explanation quickly and adjusted the cuffs of my shirt.

"Thank you for the offer. I'll take you up on it." Jer walked down the hall towards my room. I watched him disappear around a corner before turning to my left to face the back stairs that were right by the grand staircase. The two were separated by a thick black wall. The steep slope climb down the back stairs was for the maids. It led them down to their chambers more quickly.

A ravenous growl gurgled meaningfully in my stomach as I took the steep steps two at a time. As I passed the maids floor, they all looked at me surprisingly before staring down at their waists and bowing. For once, I nodded to each one of them, ashamed of what I was about to do.

The steps down to the next, darkest floor were made of gray, fading stone. The stairs weren't as steep, but glossy spider webs spun in the crevices along the walls and staircase. Giuseppe was so old-school. He had had electric torches built in on the way down the steps. The artificial flames unsuccessfully tried to brighten the darkest floor, licking against the walls and occasionally sweeping over the floorboards.

I got down to the pit of the stairwell, where two Romanian guards stood, clad in chain-link armor and lances. Behind them, twelve cells full of humans waited. I peered around the guards' shoulders as they moved away from me to make room.

"I would like the farthest back one on the right." I paused. "And the third left, please."

I could see both guards' eyes widen; I was taking two of them at a time. One responded gruffly "Very well, sir."

"Thank you." I waited patiently as the guard rolled open the metal door. Its hinges creaked with age and protest as he slipped through. I turned to the other guard.

"I'm sorry." I said, staring at his gray eyes through the small slits in his helmet. I could see a tear form in his eye, but he didn't respond.

The guard came back out, two weak, scrawny humans clutching each side of him. I nodded to him and slowly took the two humans on my arms. "Thank you." I said, craning my head back to him as I walked further into the darkness and stopping at another metal door. I wheeled it open slowly so as not to scare the two I was escorting.

Guilt gnawed at the insides of my stomach. But I had to.

I flashed a smile at both of them as I bolted the door shut behind me. "Sit down, please." I said. At first, when I had become a vampire and I had used my voice like this, it had scared me. It had sounded too melodious, too sugar-coated, too alluring. But it was like inhaling drugs to a human.

One of the girls, a twenty something year-old woman, fluttered her long eyelashes flirtatiously at me and gave me a wide grin. Her teeth were tinting yellow and gray. She tossed her hair over to the other side of her shoulder and sat down in the cold metal chair. The other girl, a brunette, probably in her young teens, stared stubbornly at me, pushing her bottom lip out in protest.

My mind was flashing the word "guilty" all over the inside of my eyelids, and every time I blinked, the word flashed before my eyes.

My instincts, on the other hand, were eyeing the two girls viciously. A roll of the eye for the flirtatious woman, and, for the stubborn girl, lust. She still had flesh on her bones. She was new.

My father had warned me that, whether I liked it or not, I was going to become a vampire someday. He told me about feeding that same day. I had felt nauseous moments after he was finished and I sprinted to the bathroom to hurl in the toilet.

_**"Now, son." Father stared me in the eyes as his words rang through his office. "You also need to know about feeding. There are three types of humans in a vampire's eyes. When you are feeding, you will come across the first two." He paused, pushing his pens into a straight, vertical line on the side of his desk. "Since we are predators, when the victim feels pain, it is more pleasurable. Therefore, it tastes better." **_

_**I tried to keep up with his words as I stored them in my six year-old mind. **_

_** "There aren't real names for each type of human, Dimitri. You will smell the different kinds. But I call the first kind addicts." A dirty glint shimmered innocently in his right eye. I took a deep breath, knowing that what he said soon would be gruesome. **_

"_**The first kind of human will have one bite, and be addicted to the adrenaline rush. They will become bite junkies, looking for any vampire to bite them." I trembled and refrained from rubbing my kneecaps anxiously. "Sure, blood is blood, but they don't have the best taste." A wicked, mischievous glint entered father's eyes. **_

_** "Now, for the second kind of human. I call these 'resistors.' They will still be lured in by your voice, your appearance, everything about you. But the bite is excruciatingly painful for them. Since the fight is what our kind adores, their blood will be full of adrenaline and the cells that will be fighting to keep us off. But, of course, we are stronger than blood cells." Father chuckled. I couldn't focus on anything else besides the fact that he had said 'our kind.' I didn't want to be a vampire. **_

"_**The third kind will only be one person for you. It will be your 'soul mate', as many of our kind call them." There he went again, with the 'our kind'! "Their blood will be so wonderful, it will be almost impossible to stop. Your mother and I were that way." A twinge of sadness shadowed father's voice. **_

I snapped back into the present as I eyed my two victims. One was an addict, the other resistant. I started towards the resistant one. I hadn't planned on feeding from her first, but my instincts had taken over, and playing with your food was the best part of the chase.

I rubbed her arms romantically. She tried to back away, but I kissed her collarbone. She shivered as my tongue swiped across it. I slowly unbuttoned her messy shirt, leaving her in her bra. I quickly pulled my shirt off and put her hands on my chest. She kept them there as I kissed her stomach and pulled her down to the ground, straddling her hips with my legs. She moaned and tried to push away for a moment before giving in. I kissed in between her breasts, and she pulled my head down to her chest. I undid my jeans and quickly pulled her sweats off. I slid my finger across my tongue and wrote 'bite' across her exposed stomach. "No, no." She moaned in pleasure. She wanted it so badly, but she didn't want it.

I traced her collar bone in kisses. "I'll be back for you." I mumbled against the bridge of her nose. She was breathing heavily once I stepped off of her and walked over to the addict, who was in a haze.

"Bite me," The addict pleaded hopelessly.

"What's your name?" I asked her seductively. She giggled.

"Bite me," She said again, craning her neck to the side so I could have a clear view of a vein pulsing steadily in her neck. I slowly guided her out of the chair and backed her up against the wall, wrapping my legs around her and putting my arms on the wall on either side of her face.

"Wouldn't you rather have a little…oh, say, fun first?" I asked her, a mocking tone in my voice. I wasn't even aware that my instincts had taken over; it happened when I was too hungry.

She smiled. "Yes. Then bite me." Another giggle escaped her lips.

Unlike the resistor, I kissed each corner of the "Bite me" girl's mouth, teasing her as I pulled her shirt off her head. She slowly slid down, staying pressed against the wall. I rolled on top of her, like I had with the girl still laying on the ground, breathing heavily.

I ignored her, going for my fresh prey. She had her neck tilted and had already taken her jeans off. She was currently trying to work on her underwear. I laughed and held her hands in place; right by her hips. I ran my hands up her thighs, stopping incredibly close towards the top. She shivered and grazed over my naked chest.

"I am going to bite you now." I told her, smiling and leaning down towards her ear as my hands moved up to her stomach. She nodded enthusiastically.

I didn't really want her neck; not today. That was too easy. Instead, I dove in for the top of her arm. A loud moan passed her lips as I drew the blood from her, letting the sweet taste flood my mouth. Nothing was enough. Only when I saw her getting drowsy did I let her arm drop. It stopped bleeding immediately when my mouth left the point of contact. Wiping my lips with my arm, I walked back over to the resistor, who was huddled up against the wall.

"Please don't bite me," She pleaded, her piercing green eyes large and scared.

I walked over to her and caressed her face. "Oh honey, don't you want this?" She shivered before shaking her head. I leaned close to her ear. "Do you want to be like me?" I whisper. She shivered and shook her head.

"No. I want to live."

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen. I'm fifteen."

"Perfect. You won't feel a thing once you're out cold."

Her eyes filled with tears. "No, sir, please don't. Please please please don't." Her whimpers ceased as I pushed her down onto the hard floor and kissed her stomach, her legs, her arms, her chest, her neck. I teased her waist with my fingers. She sighed.

For her, I went straight for her neck, my hand already covering her mouth. She wouldn't stop screaming, so I filled her with her own blood. She gagged for a moment before spitting it into the air and onto my back. I let it sit there and drank from her freely. Her blood tasted so much better than the addict. Giuseppe was right. The struggle gave the taste. It blossomed in my mouth with a passionate, pulsing, sweet and bitter taste.

Mariella came back into mind. Her glowing auburn hair, her fierce hazel eyes, and her taut, thin coral lips that were always pursed in a mocking smile of distaste when I was around. I had kissed another girl?

I let the resistor drop to the ground in disgust.

I walked over to the sink that was conveniently placed in the room. I took a look at myself as I washed my chest, face and back off from all the blood. The haze to play with my food and then eat it ebbed away as I cleaned myself.

I quickly buttoned up my shirt and checked my face again for any remains of the blood. I turned over the resistor's body so she was face down, to indicate she was dead. I left the addict slumped against the wall, a hazy smile intact on her lips.

I casually walked past the guards and nodded at them, but, once I was out of their sight, I sprinted the rest of the way up to my room, where grief crashed into me like a tsunami.

What had I done?

"_**These feelings are normal vampire instincts, Dimitri." Father told me as I walked back into the room after throwing up. "You'll get used to it." **_

I had gotten used to it, but then Mariella came. She had changed everything.

_**~Mia~**_

Jade and Alea tripped into my room boisterously, talking in their small, high-pitched voices that were nearly identical. Their words were excitedly clipped as they rambled on about some drama in the maid's chambers. I sat up and leaned back against my pillows, causing movement to let them know I was here. They both looked up, surprised. "Oh! You're here!" Alea squeaked. I nodded with a 'well duh' expression on my face. The twins either didn't see it or didn't acknowledge my foul mood, which had been caused by the tattoo.

Getting the tattoo finished had hurt, unlike the rest of the tingling, because what Dimitri had neglected to tell me was that, at the end, the tattoo artist had plunged a serum which sealed the tattoo to my skin for an irrevocable period of time-like, say, eternity. When I had asked him what was in the serum, he had deftly avoided the question, which led me to wonder: what exactly _was_ in there? I was determined to ask Dimitri that the very next moment we had together.

The twin's ambled their way over towards the bed, engulfed in the scandal that had taken place, from what I heard, fairly recently. I cleared my throat nervously, and they both looked up, obviously annoyed by being interrupted. But, when they noticed who I was, they straightened their backs and smiled formally.

"So, what would you like done with your toes?" Jade asked at the same time Alea asked "What do you want done with your fingers?" From the corner of my eye, I saw Jade pulling out a nail file that looked like a deadly weapon.

On another day, I would have laughed at how in-tune the sisters were to each other, but today, the blank, slightly bored expression stayed on my face. "Whatever you think would look best." I addressed both of them at the same time.

"But Mia, you _have _to choose. _We_ don't choose for _you._" Jade said, desperation flooding into her voice.

I looked at her sternly. "I choose for you to choose for me." From instinct, I stuck my bottom lip out and frowned.

Jade's and Alea's gazes both dropped to the pattern branded into the duvet on my bed. "Okkkayyy." Alea breathed out shakily.

As Jade and Alea tried to comfortably pick up their previous conversation while fiddling around with their bags of supplies, I wondered what they meant. _"You __**have **__to choose. __**We **__don't choose for __**you.**__" _She had emphasized three words with slow pronunciation and a raise in her voice. Have. We. You.

The words swirled around in my head. It felt like my head was a smoothie blender, and each word was an unknown ingredient that was torn apart before I had a chance to identify it.

"Who is the master?" I blurted. Jade stopped shaking a striking neon blue nail polish tube. Alea stopped filling a portable pedicure bowl with warm water in the bathroom. They both stared at me incredulously until I made eye contact with them. "I've heard you talk about them before. Why can't I know who it is?" Both dropped their gazes to their projects, ashamed. Both stayed silent. "Well?" I asked, stupidly putting my hands on my hips as I sat down.

They both stayed mute again. I could feel the growing tension in the room as each sister telepathically willed the other to speak. Neither would utter a sound. I alternated my gazes from each of them. They could obviously feel me watching them, because every time I looked at the blonde crowns of their heads, they fidgeted uncomfortably.

Irritation and hurt swept over me. "What? Is it a sin for me to know?"

Jade and Alea exchanged a glance. They decided to agree on something, so, finally, Alea came billowing out of the bathroom to sit on the bed and take one of my hands. "It depends. The overall master is Giuseppe." Alea said quietly, methodically massaging my hand with her nimble fingers.

Jade spoke. "But, it's different for you."

"How?" I asked curiously.

"Your master is The Prince." Alea nearly whispered. I tried to calm her shaking hand.

"But, if Dimitri and Giuseppe are commanding you two different sides, you take Giuseppe's, because he is the overall master." Jade's voice was a faint sound underneath the quiet vent blowing out puffs of cool air above us all.

"So, I'm subservient?" I asked, irritation crowding my voice. The twins exchanged a glance before looking back at me.

"In a way, yes." Alea murmured uncomfortably.

I wanted to march up to Dimitri's room, but I knew that I had to let the girls finish my nails. For the remaining time, I tried to rest against all the pillows that clung to the headboard while the twins giggled and contentedly painted my nails, forgetting the awkward tension that had been created from my question.

I interrupted their conversation as Jade moved onto my second foot. "So, did Dimitri give you orders to be nice to me?" Both of them fell silent.

"Answer me!" I yelled ferociously. I could hear the exotic creature that had been in Violet's room creeping into my voice. Alea took a small peak at me before ducking her head back down.

"He told us to treat you like we would a vampire." Alea's whisper would have been inaudible, but my hearing was heightened at that moment and I heard it.

Waves of anger rippled over me, and although I was sure_ I_ would just jerk out of the way, my body stayed stone still. "So, you two being nice to me, it's all just an order?" I asked quietly. The girl's voice from Violet's room was gone. In her wake, she had left a vulnerable, young girl.

"Mia, no, of course not!" Jade burst, trying to look me straight in the eyes. I avoided it by looking the other way; if I looked into her earnest blue eyes, I would cry.

Alea's eyes try to catch mine while I'm looking her way, but I crank my head further around to look at the headboard. It hurt my neck. "We were nice at first because of that, because we didn't know you! But we know you now, and we like you! Please, Mia." Alea pleaded.

The exotic girl came back into play, and I turned my head around to face both of them. Both pairs of eyes widened as I stared at them. "Finish my nails, then go." The exotic girl said, her voice steely as she gazed at both of them disapprovingly. They quivered before turning back down to their work.

Through foreign eyes, I saw the twins' tears roll off their cheeks and hit the red duvet. One of Jade's tears hit the girl's leg, and I flinched, although the girl didn't. She stayed in a solid, motionless position.

Twenty-eight minutes later, Jade and Alea gathered up their supplies with sparkling tears in their eyes, linked their arms together and scurried through my bedroom door, not even casting one last glance back at the motionless girl on the bed.

The exotic girl looked down at her toes. I saw with her that Jade had painted them a striking azure blue. Shining silver bubbles floated up each big toe.

I followed the girl's gaze as she looked at her fingernails, which were decorated with a parade balloon yellow. At the tips, small black strokes sat. Alea had given the exotic girl a bumblebee French manicure.

I would have giggled, but my lips wouldn't move. I could see the girl's reflection in one of the nails, and she stared back at me, unmoving.

It hit me that the exotic creature-girl was _me. _If I was myself at that moment, hyperventilation would have taken over, but the girl-me-stayed completely calm.

I felt my legs swing over the side of the bed and stand up, walk over to the door as my smooth hands grasped the golden handle and twist it right before my legs strode out of the room.

Shoulders pushed back into a proud line, I maneuvered through the hallway until I reached the stairs that spiraled towards the upper chambers, which were the vampire's chambers.

I followed my nose towards the musky wood scent before striding into the room. The room was in order save for Dimitri's folded clothing atop the cabinet. I sat down gingerly on the bed that was stationed on the far wall. It molded around me.

The exotic girl breathed in slowly, deliberately as she took in the smells of the room.

The smoking musky wood scent that was Dimitri, freshly mown grass, hints of lemon juice and lavender, a dull ginger, and the last smell was…..

What was that? I couldn't place it, nor could the exotic girl. I quickly chastised myself for thinking we were two different people. _Same body, _I told myself. _But not the same person. _

It was a tangy, metallic rust smell that had been dampened by something. It was passionate and beckoning, but I couldn't place my mind on it. I knew the smell well, and it repulsed me. The girl-or, another side of me-found it intoxicating.

I wasn't left more time to think, because the large dark bathroom door swung open, and, in all his glory, a bare-chested Dimitri stood, his shaggy brown hair falling in chunks into his eyes.

Both the girl and I grazed longingly over his chest. A six-pack was amazing, but his eight-pack was unbelievable as drops of glistening water rolled down it. His arms were tightly wrapped in strong coils of muscle. A black towel was wrapped around his bottom half. I stared at his chest longer than I should have.

He spotted me, and I saw a flicker of surprise before delight spread on his face. He quickly covered it up with question. "Well, do you go around waiting for men to get out of the shower so you can stare at our chests all day?"

_I_ would have blushed, but I stood up gracefully and walked over to him, a smirk playing across my face. "No, not all men." I stood teasingly close to him, swinging my hands up to his hips for a moment but not touching. I rolled forward on my tiptoes and whispered into his ear. "Just one."

I picked up a small, almost silent intake of his breath before he smiled his breathtaking smile at me. "Lucky me."

I danced a circle around him, lightly grazing my fingertips over his lean back. "Who said it was you?" I said in a singsong voice as I danced away from him. He followed me as I folded my legs underneath me and sat down on the bed.

He stood dangerously close to me, crouching down so his chest was just below my eyes. Instead of staring at his face, I gazed at his chest and gave a small, sexy smile. "You're right." He whispered, staring into my eyes. "How could I ever be so arrogant?"

I looked up at his face. "I don't know." I breathed. We held each other's gazes for a long moment before I shot up, grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the mouth. He moaned and tangled his hands in my hair. We fell backwards onto the bed. I wrapped my legs around his torso, securing the towel in place around his waist. Tease but don't give, right?

I took two fistfuls of his dark wet locks and pushed his face closer to mine. He obliged happily, and came closer to me, laying his whole body against mine. I pulled him down harder with my legs, rubbing one of mine up and down his. One of his hands rubbed up and down my neck, the other securely grasping my head to his.

I let go of his hair and felt over his chest. Each chiseled muscle was ecstasy against my fingertips, and I wrapped my arms around him, feeling his stomach on mine.

For a moment, he let go of my hair and pushed up my shirt a little bit, exposing my bellybutton in question. I grabbed him harder to answer, and he quickly pulled it off.

I pulled my mouth away from his for a moment. "Lock the door." I gasped. He pulled me up, kissing me the whole way to the door and pushing me up against it while he locked it. I wrapped my legs harder around him and he pushed me up against the door further. I was higher up than him, and he kissed my collarbone, moving down to my breasts as I threw my head back, grabbing his neck closer towards me. His towel started to slip, but I quickly pulled it back up with my toes.

We started to slide down to the floor, and I was on top of him. I kissed him hard on the mouth once again before he rolled me over so my back was against the carpet. He kissed down each of my arms, nibbling each of my wrists before going back up and kissing circles around my stomach. He slid the straps of my bra off my shoulders but kept it clasped. I dug my fingers into his shoulders and massaged them closer to me.

He kissed each corner of my mouth before nibbling my bottom lip. I smashed my top lip against his, curling my hands into the small of his back.

I moaned as his upper teeth grazed all over my collarbone. I rolled us over, keeping my legs locked around his. "The bed?" He murmured as I kissed his chest. I nodded between kisses.

He pulled us both up, letting me slip down so our pelvises were touching so that I could still reach his chest. He lay down on the bed as I kissed him and he caressed me.

I squirmed my way back up to his mouth, where I explored his mouth as he explored mine. His hands slid to my butt and my chest, while I felt his arms happily.

We ignored the first few knocks at the door, when they came. Instead, he slid my miniskirt off while nibbling my earlobe. "Ignore it." He murmured sexily into my ear. I nodded and kissed his neck.

The knocking grew louder and more urgent. "Dimitri, open this damn thing!" Jer's voice growled through the wood.

Dimitri sighed, rolling on top of me and staring into my eyes. I nodded. "Get it." He started to get up, but I pulled his wrist. "Let me get my clothes on and hide." I hissed. He nodded and jumped off me, quickly gathering my clothing in a heap.

"Go onto the balcony," He whispered. I nodded, running behind the curtains and opening the sliding door as quickly as I shut it.

"Dimitri?" Jer called.

"One moment, Jer." Dimitri called back to his brother. I heard the rustling of a shirt scraping against a chest, and then a door open.

I pulled my shirt over my head before shimmying into my mini-skirt. That had been amazing. The rush of his body, warm, against mine, was intoxicating. But now that I unclouded my head for a moment, worry flooded through me.

It hadn't been only the exotic girl there. It was me, too. I don't know what made Dimitri do it, but he had certainly been okay with it. More than okay.

"What was that ruckus, brother?" I heard Jer's voice ask in wonder.

"Oh, it was the T.V." Dimitri lied smoothly. "Some sisters were having a fight. I had to turn it down, because it was blasting right before you came." I stifled a giggle.

"Well then. I came to see what your arrangements were for the dinner tonight. Are you going to accompany Ma-" Jer started. Dimitri cut him off quickly.

"I don't know, Jer."

"You should. Tell me, how are things going? With her, I mean." I could hear the question in Jer's voice.

"It's unknown territory for me at the moment."

"Well, ask her. She may just agree."

I heard Dimitri clear his throat. "I will see."

Dimly, I wondered who 'she' was. What was I doing here if there was someone else in play?

"Good talking to you, brother."

"As you." Jer replied. I heard a door close and lock, right before a sigh. Dimitri stepped out onto the balcony and offered me his hand. I raised an eyebrow.

"Would you like…" The exotic girl-me- started.

"To continue?" He finished. I nodded. He swooped me up in his arms and dropped me onto the bed, tore my shirt off right before my skirt as I swiftly uncovered his chest. I kissed him hard on the mouth and explored the insides of his cheeks as he drew swirly images across my stomach.

I rubbed my legs against the backs of his, and he moaned as I massaged them with my legs. I inched up closer to him so we were at perfect level with each other.

Our bodies were molding into each other as I curled mine around his and he pushed his against mine. I circled his neck with wet kisses as he covered my stomach with strokes of his tongue. "You're amazing," I murmured breathlessly.

He looked me in the eye, stopping for a moment. He then pushed his mouth down onto mine and murmured against my lips "No, I'm not." His tongue played with mine teasingly. I giggled.

We accidentally rolled off the bed, ending in a tangle of arms and legs. My face was by his back, and I kissed his spine up and down several times. He spun me the right way so I was facing his mouth and led my hands down to his pants so I could pull them off with my thumbs. I did, and wrapped each leg around our bodies, holding us together as I tied the pant legs in a triple knot. It sealed us close together. He laughed and touched the knot, kneading it into my back. I moaned and pressed harder against him.

He explored my stomach as I touched his cheeks, his ears, his forehead, his eyebrows. Everything about him was amazing.

Although our undergarments stayed on, things heated up. He kissed my chest as I kissed along the line of his boxers. He grabbed my upper thighs with his hands and pulled me up so I was straddling him against his waist. My small bra with characterized smiling oranges was askew, and he was watching my chest eagerly as I bent over him, kissing his hair as he grabbed me by the ribcage and started tickling me. I laughed loudly, and he covered my mouth with his hand. "We can't let everyone know." He mumbled into my stomach.

"Mmhmm." I mumbled, nibbling his ears.

He flipped us over so that he was straddling me. I grazed my fingertips over his waist, and he sighed happily. I grabbed his hair and pulled him down again to me, his mouth turning to putty against mine.

He suddenly shot up, staring at me wildly before quickly pulling his pants on. I realized what we were doing, too, and scrambled around the room for my clothes. He was dressed before I was, leaving me standing in my skirt and orange bra. He quickly found my shirt thrown on the other side of the bed.

Once I was dressed and I had run my hands through my hair to make it a little less crazy, I took a shaky breath. "I-I should go." I said.

Dimitri nodded. "There is a dinner tonight. 7:30. I will come over to your room and take you there."

"Okay." I fought to keep my voice steady as I turned away from him and fumbled with the door to unlock it.

"Oh, and, Mia?" He called softly.

I turned back. "Yeah?" He took three long, hesitant steps over to me and cradled my face before tenderly touching his lips to mine. He stared at me for a moment before turning away. I fled out of the room.

What the hell had I just done?


	17. Chapter Sixteen :Repercussions & Regrets

_Let's just take a moment to revel in the fact that this update is two days after the previous one. __Yeah, I know. Major accomplishment. I know I've lost a lot of readers from the long hiatus I took from writing, so thank you to those of you who are still reading. It really means a lot to me. _

_Does anyone read these notes that I leave up above? I sure hope so, because typing this whole thing takes a lot of work. :) Just joking. But there is helpful stuff…and apologies…up here sometimes!_

_Anyways, enjoy and review!_

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Sixteen_

_**~Dimitri~**_

Holy hell.

She was stunning. Absolutely wonderful. Every time she touched me, a warm rush flooded through my body, surging through my every pore. I had been the first one to realize what we were doing. _Me. _Not her. She was willing to carry on. I had been, too. It was the realization that brought me back down and jumped away from her. Now, I wished I hadn't. At this moment, I could have been kissing her and running my hands up her legs. Instead, here I was, staring in the foggy mirror in the bathroom. My reflection was strange.

My cheeks were flushed with a natural pink that I saw her get at times. My hair was incredibly tangled from her fingers running through it, and my chest had a scratch from my collarbone down to my lower stomach.

We had the physical connection, but I wanted to make sure we had an emotional connection before going for it. As I looked at my disheveled reflection in the mirror, I knew we had one. I just needed to make sure it was strong.

Guilt flooded through me. Only minutes before she had come sought me out, I had been touching two other girls, drinking greedily in dire need instantaneously and foolishly.

I couldn't tell anyone about what had happened. The news would spread like the plague around the castle, resulting in Giuseppe's and Violet's ears knowing what happened.

I wouldn't let it happen. It couldn't.

_**~Violet~**_

A disheveled Mia walked into the room, taking me completely off-guard. I did a once-over to see she was one hell of a mess; tangled, knotted hair, her shirt was put on backwards and embodied a few rips, a mini-skirt that was pulled up to high on her right side, and crazy, lost eyes that zipped around the room anxiously. They stopped on me for a moment. For a moment, sad guilt was held in her eyes, but as quickly as it had come, it dissolved into an icy glare. I leaned back into one of the pillows on her bed and stretched out my legs, yawning.

"What are you doing in my room?" She asked stolidly. I rolled my eyes, bored.

"There's a dinner tonight." I stated simply, keeping my voice clear of any emotion.

"I concluded, seeing as how you actually had the nerve to come into my room and _lie on my bed_." She snapped angrily. But then she sighed and let her guard drop, twirling a frazzled piece of hair around her pointer finger. "What's the problem?"

"There is no problem." I fought the urge to throw my arms into the air. "I need to clean you up and make you presentable."

"Why aren't the twins doing that?" She snapped, dragging a pale, shaking hand through her hair. She yanked it through the knots in a jerky manor.

I raised my eyebrows in response. Mia took that as enough of an answer and dropped her guard even more.

"I'm such a bitch." She mumbled, walking around to the other side of the bed and laying down.

"The past while you have been." I kept my voice emotionless, although tears danced threateningly behind my eyelids.

She turned to look at me. "I'm sorry," She whispered as tear after silent tear rolled down her flushed cheeks. "I don't know who it is that's been around lately. I mean, I know it's me, but it's not me. It's not who I am, and especially after seeing what she did just a few minutes ago…" Mia clapped a hand to her mouth abruptly and let more tears flow out of her eyes. "Do you forgive me?" She asked in a small voice. I tried to keep my plain face, but the façade crumbled into shards and my own tears started forming and falling onto the duvet. I nodded my head fiercely before she hugged me. "I am so, so sorry." She mumbled against my shoulder, the soft cashmere knit of my sweater moving with her. She heaved loud sobs. "I don't know who she is!" She cried, shaking uncontrollably. "And, the worst part is," She sniffled. "I know it's happening but I can't stop it. It's like I'm just trapped inside my body, watching."

I pulled away from Mia. Someone had to tell her what was happening, and at the moment I fit the role perfectly. I sucked in a few deep, apprehensive breaths before starting. "I know why it's happening, Mia." I said quietly. Her tears kept flowing but the heaving sobs turned into small hiccups. I patted her hands and got off the bed, shutting the large wooden door with a deafening slam that rattled the room. It was sure to annoy Dimitri and Jer.

"Dimitri and Giuseppe have been telling you the whole time, but you haven't believed them." She looked up at me through her tears curiously. "You are a half-vampire." I said sympathetically. She hesitantly nodded.

"Why can't I just be human?" She uttered in disgust, looking down at her pale wrists.

I shrugged my shoulders but continued. "For most of your life, your human side has been the dominant side. However, your vampire side is slowly becoming the dominant part of you. It shows up full strength at times, and that's why you can't control it. In a year or two, it'll be the completely dominant side. For most of the rest of your life, it will be."

Her tears started again. "So I will always be a monster?" Her shoulders bobbed up and down. I shook my head fiercely.

"Oh, no no!" I reassured her, patting her hands. "It's just that your body isn't used to the chemical changes that happen while you are in that mode, making you act differently. In the end, you will still have your morals and all, you will just look like a vampire, be stronger than the average human, live longer than them, and you will have more pride. It won't be like the side of you you're experiencing now." I squeezed out the sentences in one long breath.

Mia sighed in relief. "Well, that's not nearly as bad as who _she"- _Mia spit the word 'she' "Is right now. I am glad that will change."

I laughed at her bitter relief. "You still have to put up with her for awhile, though."

Mia shook her head. "No, I don't. Only six more weeks."

Her words wiped the broad smile off of my face in an instant. In six weeks, I would either have a vampire to relate to, or I would lose a friend.

"How will they kill me?" She asks, looking at me through gleaming hazel eyes that shined with ferocious curiosity and not the least bit of fear. "You know, if I choose that option." Mia corrected herself hastily. It seemed she had her mind made up.

Fat, bubbly tears crawled down my cheeks. "I don't know. Giuseppe doesn't call this one. Dimitri does." I paused as her expression morphed into one of shock and horror. Absentmindedly, I wondered what caused her reaction.

"I would think he would choose, being him, of course," I added the last part on in an act of sour humor, "That he would drain you of blood, set his archery skills up to the task, or strangle you and leave your blood for the guests at the next party." Mia shuddered as I ticked them off my fingers. I silently sighed with relief. At least she still had some feeling left.

She left it silent. It was a comfortable silence. "And, if I were to choose the…other option?" She said in a small voice after a time.

"Becoming a vampire, you mean?" I said blandly. The word didn't affect me anymore. She nodded solemnly. "Well, the side you see of your vampire self would definitely calm down. But not completely. You will be more confident than you would as just a half-vampire, you will look like a full vampire, you will live on earth for as long as you wish, you will be at your strongest, and you will be at your weakest. Does that cover it?"

She shook her head. "It was helpful." She said in a small voice. "But it didn't cover everything."

I tilted my head to the side in question. "Look, I suck at explaining this, probably because I'm not a vampire so I have no idea what it's like. Dimitri would explain this so much better than me…" I trailed off. Mia snapped back into focus at the mention of his name.

"No!" She barked. I took a step back in surprise. She sighed and fidgeted on the bed, tucking her petite feet underneath her. "I mean, I would rather have you explain it."

I sighed and walked over to the bed, patting it in question. She nodded and I slowly adjusted myself into a comfortable position. "What's up with you and Dimitri? Why does his name make you so squirmy?"

She sighed, ran a trembling hand through her auburn hair, and told me in a hushed voice where she was before she came into her room.

I sat there with my mouth hanging open. I wouldn't be surprised if I had swallowed a spider.

We sat there in silence when she finished. I stared into the realm of dust motes floating around the air. One settled on Mia's knee with ease. I wanted to slap it, but I was frozen in place.

When the dust mote was finally picked up by the air-conditioner turning on right over our heads, I found a way to move my numb lips, even though the words came out in syllables.

I looked her in the eyes. "Ho." "Lee." "Shit."

She moaned and dunked her head into her hands, ashamed. "It wasn't me there, Vi! It was _her._ But, can I tell you something?" I nodded earnestly. "It wasn't just her that enjoyed it. _I _did too."

For another moment, I was frozen in place. But the next, a wide, cracking smile popped over my lips before I was standing on the bed and jumping in circles and squares and diamonds around Mia. "You know you likeeee him, he knows he likeeees you." I sung happily until it turned into a mantra. "You know you likeeee him, he knows he likeeees you. You know he knows, he knows you know." I danced around her, overjoyed until finally she firmly grabbed my ankle and twisted me down.

"What the hell?" I shouted brazenly, blindly aware that I was acting like a drunkard.

"Shut up, Violet!" Mia cursed over to me venomously. "No one can know. NO ONE, Violet!" I looked Mia in the eyes, dazed, as she hissed instructions at me. "You cannot tell anyone. It wasn't even me there, it was that freak me, okay? The one that hurt you, the one that hurt the twins. The one that's insane! She isn't me."

I came to understand Mia's words, and the world suddenly became clear again instead of the blurry colors I had seen only moments before.

"I understand what you're saying, Mia." I said, suddenly sober off of the happy-high Mia had given me. "But I still don't believe that part of the human you wasn't there, too, enjoying it all the way." A goofy grin slid across my face then, and I grasped Mia's cheeks in my two hands. I shook her head back and forth with every word I spoke. "I don't think it'll be long until you realize that too." I let go of her and she rubbed her cheeks, murmuring nonsense. "Now, let's get you ready. Maybe Dimitri can even come early and talk to you about the full vampire thing."

Mia started to protest, but I held up a finger. "Shh. Shut it. I'm going to call him right now and tell him to come half an hour early. No complaining, missy." I shot her a genuine 'you'll thank me later' smile. She frowned in response. As I called Dimitri, she fiddled anxiously with her hands and sat cross-legged on her bed.

"Mia?" Dimitri sounded so vulnerable and relieved. I forgot that the caller ID would show up as her on the pager.

"Sorry, bitch, it's me." I sugar-coated my words. I heard the whisper of Dimitri sigh in disappointment before he breezily laughed.

"What is it, Violet?" He asked tersely. Someone was obviously not happy.

"Come pick your date up half an hour early. She has some…" I stopped, slowly grinning at Mia. "Questions, for you." He grumbled in response before ending the call.

I turned back to Mia. "Let's go talk to the twins." She said. I nodded and linked my arm through hers as we walked out the door.

___**Mia~**_

"So, that's pretty much it." I finish with a heavy sigh. Violet gave me a hesitant smile.

"Come on, you two. It's not like she can help it for now."

"And I don't mean it when it happens!" I start. "I…" I'm cut off by Jade holding out her hand.

"Stop, Mia." Alea says.

"But…" I protest, only to be cut off again.

"We understand." Jade says, lowering her hand.

I raise my eyebrows. "You do?"

Alea nods. "I mean, it's not like you can turn it on and off. And you're still changing into whatever the hell you are." Jade smiles as Alea finishes. I smile fervently back.

I rush towards them and encircle them both in a large hug. They laugh, and after a moment of hesitance, hug me back.

As I pull away, Jade speaks. "So, we know that you have a favor to ask of us. What is it, exactly?"

I look at Violet, who has a devious glint in her eye. I sigh.

"There's a dinner tonight, girls." Violet says, smiling widely. "And Dimitri is taking Mia."

Alea and Jade stare at me before looking at each other and clapping their hands while jumping up and down excitedly.

"Tonight of all nights!" Jade pipes. "On a full moon!" Alea squeals. They stop and stare at me.

"Violet, come with me down to the clothing chambers to grab some dresses for Mia." Jade demands and tugs on Violet's hand. Violet shoots me a look, and I nod.

"Jade, not too many options, okay? I have a feeling last time Mia was smothered in clothes." Violet smiles at her words.

Jade sighs. "Fine," She grumbles before piping up. "Let's go!" They were gone instantly, even without vampire speed.

"Come on, we have no time to lose." Alea says as she steers me towards a large mirror that covers one wall. Alea sits me down in a pink, plush, silky lining chair that is comforting to all the hyperactive butterflies in my stomach.

"So, I can't do make-up until we have a dress chosen. But oh! I can do your hair and your nails." Alea grins, her white teeth glinting wickedly in the bright mirror lights. "I am going to make you a vampire princess."

I protest, but she holds up a hand. "Ah ah ah ah. No way are you getting out of this one. You are a princess, technically. Or royalty."

I sigh and slump back in the chair. Alea slaps my stomach. "Sit up straight." I stare at her, shocked, as I hold my belly.

"You need proper etiquette." Alea flashes me a big smile before turning back into the drill master. She artfully twirls her hair into a bun before working on me. "That includes a corset." I suck in chilled breath through my teeth. Crap. Alea notices my stunned look. "Don't worry, it's not until right before we put your dress on. Relax, Mia," She says, patting my head. "You're in good hands."

_**~Mia~**_

"Jade, I already have it planned out. We can't go with the green!" Alea whines. I sigh quietly.

For the past 15 minutes, Jade and Alea had been debating between two dresses; a vibrant green or a slinky black. I stood in their bedroom, arms raised, wearing only my underwear and a pink polk-a-dot bra. Violet leaned against the bedpost, arms folded impatiently as she watched the scene fold out before her.

"Alea, dear me. You want Mia in that…that…._thing?_" Jade spit out the word vehemently. "She'll look like a flaming bat, with her hair color!" Jade moved a fluttering hand in a circular motion in the air around my face.

"Good Lord, Jade, I want her to look something like that!" Alea rubbed her temples.

I wasn't sure, but a flaming bat didn't sound too appealing.

The twins shared a meaningful look during a moment of silence.

"We will go with mine next time if we go with yours this time," Jade warns.

Alea nods happily. "Agreed. Now help me get her ready! We only have half an hour until Mia needs to be back in her room to meet Shane."

They propelled me back over towards the pink plush chair in front of the mirror walls. "Jade, you take her nails. I want the black, two coats, clear sparkles, one coat, and the stickers. You know which ones." Jade nodded as Alea barked orders at her seriously, probably the only time she ever _did _experience seriousness.

I felt Alea yank out separate chunks of my hair quickly. After the twins' working on me once, I was ready for whatever they did.

A short twenty minutes later, my fingernails were finished drying and Jade was putting finishing touches on my toenails. Alea was spritzing my hair with a large aluminum can of hair spray.

I examined my fingernails as they perfected the finishing touches. Two shiny coats of black nail polish gleamed like a black cat's newly clean fur. The small sparkles danced in and out of view as light hit them. They looked like dew drops on cat fur, as if he had been prowling around a flower patch in the early dawn. To top it off, on each thumbnail was a print of the seal that was etched into every wooden door in the house. It was the crest of Giuseppe's family. I had tried scraping it off, but Jade had done something to it so that it was impenetrable.

My toenails were almost the same way, except they had crescent moons on the big toes. It was much prettier than the crest, in my opinion.

I looked up into the mirror walls to see my hair. Every couple inches, a French braid fell into the rest of my over-brushed, glossy hair. It looked good. Simple, sexy, and powerful; it felt good.

Alea stood me up and tightened a snug corset around my stomach and chest before slipping on the black dress that she had fought for verbally.

"Voila!" Alea spun me around once in a full inspection. Violet came in and raised an eyebrow before coyly raising up the corner of her mouth in a smile.

"I'm impressed, Alea." Violet says approvingly. "I know the two of you can pull anything off, but I wasn't sure this one would be as good as it is."

Jade nodded. "Not half bad, sis." Alea grinned at the praise.

"We just need to put her in some shoes," Alea said, running over to her large closet and fishing out a pair of black strappy heels that laced up to just above my ankle. "Sit down, Mia." She directed me over to the bed, where I took a seat as they untangled the shoes and quickly slipped them on my feet. "Done." Alea paused and looked at me. "Go look for yourself." She pointed towards the bathroom, where the mirror walls stood.

I picked my way across the room, trying not to flail in the heels. Vampire me would do fine in these tall heels; I, on the other hand, was as clumsy as a baby giraffe.

I sighed and looked up in the mirror. Of course, it-scratch that-I-looked amazing. My auburn hair had small French braids woven into my head of newly glossy hair. I flicked it behind my ears toss it over my left shoulder. My face, a usually heart-shaped mold, was all angles. My eyelids were dusted with a smoky shadow and the smallest hint of eyeliner sat on the bottom lids. My lips were smeared in a clear gloss that tasted like pinna colada.

The dress didn't look too revealing. Instead, the bottom lip of the dress chafed at the coils of shoe around my ankles. On my left leg, a deep jut tore up the length of my leg, up to my mid-thigh. The dress wrapped tightly around my waist with a silky black bodice. The dress slung over my left shoulder in a tank-top fashion. Attached to the shoulder strap was a long, flowing lace sleeve that trailed down my arm and hung loosely enough that the bottom of the sleeve hit my waist as I held my hand up to examine the circling pattern woven into the lace. My other shoulder and arm were completely bare. The back cut down in a deep V in a way which accentuated my newly finished tattoo. It truly was beautiful.

"Time to get going." Violet tugged on my bare arm. I stumbled after her as she quickly towed me out of the room.

"Thank you Jade, Alea. This is wonderful, really. I'll talk to you tomorrow?" I ask them hopefully. Jade nods enthusiastically as Alea blows a teasing kiss.

"Have fun, darling!" They chime together right before the door closes behind us. I am tripping over myself as Violet runs me down the halls and up the flights of stairs towards my room. I arrive back in my room, breathless, five minutes before Dimitri shows up.

"Mia, you need to talk to him." Violet urged.

"About what, exactly?" I asked, irritated. Not with Violet exactly, but just with the fact that I had to face him after what I had done with him.

"About changing!" Violet says loudly. She pauses. "About your options." She says, quieter than before. "And I know what I hope you choose, because then, however selfish this sounds, I don't want be alone in this new thing."

Tears danced around her eyes, and they start to fill mine too. I start to actually see what we could do if we were both turned. I could have eternity. Violet and I could have fun for eternity, however dorky that sounded. Then, Giuseppe would release me, and I could see my family again. I could have eternity with them, because they already owned it. My family already had eternity in their grasps. I had the chance in my grasp. I only had to tie the loose end of becoming a vampire, and eternity would be mine…

I shook my head. No. That isn't what my family would want for me. That isn't how they would want it.

"Vi, you know I can't…" I started, but Violet held up a hand and sniffled.

"Don't even start, Mia. I don't want you messing up your make-up right now. We will talk about it later."

I just nod, hoping she would forget to talk about it but knowing she wouldn't.

Three light, hesitant knocks on my bedroom door sounded, sending a symphony of jittery fear scattering around my stomach. Violet smiled happily and hopped off my bed to answer the door. She stopped as she put her hand on the doorknob.

"Be good." She mouthed to me before opening the door.

Dimitri stood behind the door. Although he was glorious and godly normally, in a tuxedo, all cleaned up, he was unimaginable, perfect. His rich brown hair was mildly tousled, yet not like a bed head look. His dark, usually black eyes were slate grey, holding a sense of….was that softness I saw? Dressed in a dashing blacker-than-night tuxedo, he looked taller and leaner than ever. Long legs, long upper body, he was a tall man-vampire-either one, I guess. Underneath his smooth, wrinkle free suit jacket was a blinding white shirt. The cuffs around his wrists were unbuttoned, giving him the edgy look that I knew he cherished. His collar was pulled neatly over the lip of his jacket. He had, thankfully, kept that one completely buttoned up. On his left breast, the family crest was embroidered onto the jacket. To top off his gentleman look, he wore what I assumed were custom-made Italian leather shoes, polished to a gleaming black on the point.

In his hands he held an assortment bouquet of flowers, which consisted of red and white roses, red, purple, and black tulips. The arrangement was stunning. In everything, I struggled to keep my eyes from straying his way.

He looked at me for the briefest second, and I swear his eyes melted into a liquid silver. But the second passed, and he was smiling his arrogant, proud smile at Violet, who immediately hugged him.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "Hello, sister-in-law."

Violet laughed back and stared up at him. "Oh, no. Soon to be sister-in-law."

Dimitri threw his arms up in the air. "The wedding honestly won't make any difference, seeing the rate things are going at now."

Violet blushed a deep red as she struggled to quickly switch the subject. "So, I see you brought me some flowers." She threw me a teasing smile. "How lovely."

Dimitri smirked. "Oh, I am truly sorry, dear, but I actually brought these for my escort." He turned his body to me and I quickly looked down at my shoes; his gaze felt like burning lasers slashing across my skin.

I could hear the sarcasm in Violet's voice. "I'm _crushed, _Dimitri."

The smile in his voice is palpable. "T' is a shame, isn't it?" He walks over to me. "Well, you cannot leave me standing here with these flowers in hand. They aren't good for my image." He held out the flowers, waiting for me to look up. I strategically avoided his gaze by looking into the silver wrapping of the flower bouquet.

"They _are _beautiful." I murmured, bending my head down to lightly sniff them. I ended up having all my hair fall over onto the bouquet and tulip petals blowing up my nose. I quickly try to shake it off and make it look planned, but both Dimitri and Violet saw how it wasn't planned, and they both end up smiling and holding back rounds of laughter.

"Well, Mia. I have to actually get myself ready for this thing." Violet laughs airily. "I'll see you guys in half an hour." She prances out of the room, and, when Dimitri isn't looking, throws a wink over her shoulder. I suppress an eye-roll.

Dimitri stands awkwardly by my bedside as I set the flowers on my bed. Someone would come in and put them in a vase, I assumed.

"Why don't we walk?" He suggests, at first extending his arm but then quickly drawing it back towards himself. "We can speak then."

I nod. "Yes, okay."

He lead me out of my room, walking slowly enough so that I could balance in the insanely high heels Jade and Alea had stuck on my feet. He smiled when I wobbled. Obviously, walking was something I would need to get down.

For the first time in awhile, I stepped across the large bridge that separated the mansion from the forest surrounding. Dimitri walked into the forest and disappeared behind a moss-covered tree. To catch up, I stumbled after him and tripped over a large rock. As I fell I saw a small stream beneath me. I had forgotten that where there was moss, there was water.

As I was about to hit the earth and become a walking mud monster, two solid arms slid underneath me and caught me. I stared at the earth, which was only inches away from me before the arms slowly stood me up. I brushed imaginary dirt off my dress and sighed, looking up at Dimitri. He was smiling.

"I'd like to see you try to walk in heels." I said, glaring off into the distance and trying to cross my arms without ripping the lace sleeve.

"I will." I looked back at Dimitri. "Walk in them, I mean." I raised my eyebrows, incredulous. "Come on." He offered me his hand, but I ignored it and gingerly stepped over the small stream. We walked between and around trees until he led us to a small clearing.

To the south, a large roaring river rushed by in plumes of white mist as it crashed against large boulders that were grounded in the bank. On the east, thousands of trees away, I could see a jutting cliff. I absentmindedly thought about standing on it while watching the sun rise over the tops of the trees.

To the west, there were only tree; trees and ground and rocks and twigs laid to the west. It was a vast land of inner forest. The north was where we had come from, and although it held road behind it, the trees covered it up like a veil.

Dimitri sat down on a good, smooth rock. It was long and low to the ground. He patted the rock. "Sit down and take off your shoes." I tilted my head in question. "You wanted to see me walk in heels?" He said, the hint of a smile playing across his face.

I rushed over to the rock (making a point to scoot far enough away so he couldn't touch me but not so far that it was completely noticeable) and unwound the shoes from my ankles before tossing them to him. He examined the left one before quickly strapping it up around his foot, which overflowed in both the front and the back. I threw him the next one and watched him do the same to that shoe. How he could simply figure out the complicated design of the wrapping ankle part, I had no idea. With a startling jolt, I realized that I would need his help putting them back on…which meant he would need to touch me. Or, my foot, at least.

"Are you ready?" He asks. I nod.

"Walk from that tree," I point to the east, where a close boundary tree is. "To that one." I point to the west borderline of trees.

He folds his arms across his chest and smiles. "Easily." With that, he walks off towards my eastern tree with ease, touches it, and starts to walk back.

"Run!" I yell, frustrated that a guy-vampire-could do a girl thing and I couldn't.

He jogged in the heels, not wobbling to the side once and slapped the western tree with the palm of his hand before jogging back to the rock and sitting down. He even managed to continue a masculine gait, rather than looking delicately feminine, like I had assumed he would.

I frown. How could he do it and I couldn't?

Dimitri smiles. "Years of practice. Seriously, there was this one vampire who came to stay at the mansion, and had to be treated like a queen. I had to help her with her heels every morning and evening."

I absently wondered about that. Since he was there every night and morning…I shook that image out of my head. I paused for a moment before starting to laugh uncontrollably.

He stares at me wonderingly. "What is it?" He asks.

I watch him through giddy tears. "You can jog in those heels and I can't even walk in them. I'm a girl. You're a gu-". I cut off. "Vampire."

A smile curved through his lips. "I've had hundreds of years to practice. And, Mariella," He said softly, halting me in my diabolical laughing episode. "You are half of what I am, too." That shut me up completely. Damn it.

I stayed silent until he quietly sighed and looked down to his feet.

I watch him put his leather shoes back on and hand me mine. I slowly look down to my shoes. They were complicated. I looked back and forth between my shoes and my feet madly. Maybe I could just go bare foot….

"Do you need help with those?" I look up to see him looking at me. "They are rather complicated."

I shake my head. "I'm fine," I told him curtly. He raises his eyebrows but hands me the shoes, dangling them from the straps. I snatch them from his hands and start fighting with them, all the while feeling his smirk grow.

After an agonizing minute of struggling, he scoots closer. "Let me help you." He says, looking at me with the annoyingly arrogant smirk still plastered on his face.

"No, I've got it." I tell, yanking the straps up towards my face and getting my toe stuck in between the straps.

"You obviously don't. Just let me help you." He put his hand on my knee.

I jerked away faster than I thought humanly possible. "Stop it, Dimitri, just _stop!_" My feet were muddy now that I had stood up, but I didn't care.

In response, he stood up, and faster than I could respond to him, he scoops me up in his arms bridal style and carries me to the little stream I had nearly tripped into minutes before. "Put me down, you filthy scoundrel!" I screamed, digging my nails into his coat jacket. When he stopped in front of the stream, he leaned down towards my neck and murmured "This is a four thousand dollar coat jacket, and I would very much appreciate if you waited until _after_ the dinner to shred it." That smirk appeared on his mouth again as he stood me up in the stream so that the mud was washed off of my feet. After it's all rubbed off, he scooped me back up again, set me back down on the rock, and strapped the shoes back on my feet.

When he is done, I swing my legs down and stand up, huffing indignantly.

"You needed help," is his reply. I stand there awkwardly, looking at anywhere but him as he stares at me. "So, I was called half an hour early for a reason, correct? You would like to know about the consequences and privileges of the options you have?"

I nod, closing my eyes and bringing a limp hand up to my forehead. My temperature was still in check. Good. "Yes."

"Go on ahead, then. Ask away." He says. I keep my eyes closed and think hard of the first question I want to ask.

"What would happen if I chose…" I conveniently sneezed right then.

"Bless you." He says graciously.

"Thanks." I pause, keeping my eyes closed as I rub my temples. "What would happen if I chose to become a vampire?" I forced the last part out. The word was extremely hard to say, even now.

Dimitri walks over to a roaring river which I had neglected to see before, even though I had heard it. He stares into it, and through millions of dancing water drops, I see a wobbly, breathtaking reflection of him. As I walked up to the edge, my reflection skipped into view. As our reflections wobbled, our two shaking, deformed hands touched through the water. I quickly scooted away so my reflection was further away from his. Dimitri had obviously seen it, too, because he was staring down at his lone reflection in the water.

"If you chose to become a vampire," Dimitri said, the words slipping easily out of his mouth with an ease that I could never accomplish. "You would be a vampire." He said it simply.

I hide a snort of disappointment. Well, yeah, I understood that much. "I understand that. Would I be set free? Would I be able to see my family again?"

Dimitri pauses and walks to a nearby tree, so he can still watch his watery persona while leaning against the green, squishy moss clawing its way up the stubbly tree trunk. "Yes, I suppose so." He says. I watched him carefully as he picked up a rock and threw it into the river. The splash that it should have made was lost in the crashing of the river.

"What are the good sides to becoming a vampire?" I ask, turning my eyes away from him and towards a tree. Screw the dress. I started climbing up the trunk and perched myself on a low branch.

"Strength, agility, speed, intelligence, flawlessness in the physical features-" He ticked off the things on his fingers.

I stopped him. "No. I already know that. But what is really good about becoming a vampire?"

Dimitri peeled his eyes away from the river to look at me. "What is truly good? In my opinion?" I nodded. His eyes turned cold. "The good comes with the bad. You have stronger emotions when you get them. So, for example, when I'm angry, I am_ really angry. _You get more control over your body and mind, but you lose some of your willpower. At least, in my case." He stops. "I don't know how to describe it, Mariella. It's something that has to be experienced to understand. Although, in your particular circumstances, I have no idea what will happen." He sighed. "It used to not be like this for me. But that was before."

"Before what?" I prodded.

"Before…" He paused and smoothed his suit jacket. "Before a month and a half ago."

I was confused, but he seemed touchy on the subject, so I decided to leave it be. "How long have I been here?" I asked him. "At this place."

"Seven weeks today." He said. "Today is Thursday." He added, guessing my next question.

"I'm almost out of time," I murmur sadly.

Dimitri looks up at me. "Well, you're almost two thirds of the way through. You still have time to make a decision."

I shook my head sadly. "I already have my decision."

I look down at Dimitri to meet his gaze. For a moment, true panic flashes through his eyes, but is either quickly concealed or I was imagining it.

"Wait until the three months are up. Things may change." He says calmly, carelessly.

I roll my eyes. "They won't."

We stay in silence, listening to the roar of the river as it crashes by us. "Do you have any more questions?" He says finally. His voice seemed drained, as if all the fight was out of him.

"What would happen if I choose death?" I say. Death was so much easier to say than vampire.

"I would kill you, and things would go on as they usually do around the palace." Dimitri says blankly.

"Would my parents be contacted?" I ask.

"No." He said tersely.

As I began to ponder this, anger erupted out of him. He growled furiously and rubbed his temples. Meaning to say something, I started to climb down from the tree.

But that's when _she _came in.

I swung around the tree branch and agilely landed on the balls of my feet, even in the heels. Shoulders squared, I walked over to him with catlike grace and slid my hand into his.

Dimitri looked down at our intertwined hands, then up at me. He immediately saw the change in me. Spinning me around, he inspected my back.

"Your tattoo is finished," He murmured, tracing the lines of it with his finger. The water fountain had turned out beautifully: the red droplets of blood hit my top-most vertebrate, and the long neck, which was also the humerous bone, of the water fountain trailed down to just above my shoulder blades. The bird feathers and rose petals held the illusion of a blowing wind as they tumbled back down to the base of the water fountain, where a silvery-blue surface of water sat serenely. Along the humerous bone, the phrase L'intelligence est la femme, l'imagination est la maîtresse, la mémoire est le serviteur was delicately traced.

Dimitri planted a kiss on the top of the fountain before grabbing my hand. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was aware of what had happened, but I couldn't take control. She walked in my high heels now.

"Shall we go?" I hear her say as a smile crosses my lips. I stuck my hip out to the side.

He nodded. "Of course. We shall." And, for the first time, instead of him leading me through the complicated grounds of the castle, I led him.

_**~Violet~**_

"Vi, please come out. It is time to go, and Giuseppe is requesting we be there on time. The whole family is waiting to meet you."

I shivered in terror. "What if they don't like me, Jer?" I manage to say through chattering teeth.

"They will, Violet. Dear, don't worry about it. The dinner will be over before you know it, and then we will be back here, alone and together."

I nod, but then realize he can't see my nod through the locked door. So, slowly, I unlock the bathroom door and walk into his outstretched arms. "It'll be okay." He murmurs into my hair before kissing the crown of my head. "And then we have the night to ourselves."

I smile. "That sounds nice."

He unwraps me from him and stretches out his arm. "Shall we?"

I nod. "Yeah. Let's get this over with."

And so we walk away from his room, down the stairs, and into the grand ballroom, where a large oak wood table sits, already occupied by ten vampires. Giuseppe sat in the head chair, towards the back of the room.

"Smile, my dear." Jer whispers in my ear before kissing it. I suppress a giggle before smiling widely.

"Violet, my dear! Welcome to your first annual family dinner!" Giuseppe's voice booms through the spacious room.

"Thank you." I say. "It was very gracious of you to accept me as you have."

Giuseppe smiles widely and claps his hands. "We are now only waiting for Dimitri and Mariella. I believe they will be here shortly."

I smile up at Jer as he leads us to our seats. A woman who appeared to be in her thirty's smiled at me from the left. "You must be Violet. I have heard a great deal about you."

I smiled back at her. "Well, I truly hope you've only heard good things."

She laughed. "Oh, of course, dear! Welcome to the family." She hugged me. "I am Jer's aunt Karlene. How wonderful to meet you. And I do look forward to meeting this Mariella. Quite a fireball of a girl, I have heard."

It's my turn to laugh. "She is. But she is a great person."

"And quite unique, I've heard," Another person inputs. I look across the table to see a man, also in his young thirty's say.

"Violet, this is my husband, Paul."

"Very nice to meet you," He says. "Now, about this Mariella girl. She is the Halfling, is she not?"

I nod. "She is."

"Well, it shall be truly intriguing to meet her." Paul says.

The three of us talked for awhile while other people joined the conversation. I quickly got to know everyone and liked most of them, Except for one of Jer's cousins, who was sulky and moody. The family ignored him, and I quickly learned to, too.

A knock at the double wooden doors sounded right before Mariella and Dimitri walked in. And, my oh my, they were a sight, the two of them together.

"Did we miss anything important?" Dimitri says, smiling.

_**~Mia~**_

As soon as we walked into the ballroom, my vampire self dissipated into the air. I muttered a stream of profanities in my head. The one time where she would have come in handy.

"Dimitri, Mariella! Welcome to the family dinner. Please, take a seat!"

My eyes widened. Family dinner? What?

Dimitri led us to the last two seats available, which were on the side opposite of Jer and Violet. Violet smiled at me warmly as she held Jer's hand.

"Well, we should introduce our newest member of the family and our beautiful guest." Giuseppe says, clapping his hands. Three servants came out with platters of warm, steaming bread and a cheese dip that smelled amazing. I held back from digging into it like a savage.

"Of course, you all already know Violet, our newest family member. She will be turned within the next few months." I realized, as Giuseppe spoke, that Violet was waiting for me to make up my mind before continuing with her life. I hold back tears of gratitude and make a mental note to speak to her about it later. "But, for formal reasons, this is Violet, my eldest son, Jer's fiancé." The guests' clap, but the noise quickly dies down as Giuseppe turns to face me. "And this astonishing lady is Mariella-" He pauses. "My dear, your middle name seems to have slipped my mind. Would you so graciously refresh it?" He smiles at me widely, daringly. If only my other self would come into play for this one moment.

"Fia." I reply, glad that my voice sounds sturdy and calm. Giuseppe's smile widens further at my response.

"As I was saying, dear family, this astonishing young woman is known by the name of Mariella Fia Clough." He pauses and waits for the family to let the information sink in. I have a feeling that because of our two family histories, it won't settle well with them.

As I was getting ready to bolt from my chair, a man on my right throws his arms around me. "Finally! Something magnificent!" He pulls away from me to examine my face. "My, and what a lovely thing you are. I hope you too, in time, choose to join our family. We need some fresh new faces around here."

A woman who was sitting next to Violet, and across the table from him frowns. "Paul, please, you're scaring her." She pauses. "And is my face getting plain to look at now, husband?" She smirks. Paul starts to say something back, but she holds up a hand and looks at me from across the table.

"I'm Karlene, Dimitri's aunt. It's wonderful to meet you." She says warmly. Usually when people have their voices so sugar-coated and warm, I don't trust them. But there was something about her that made me instantly respect her.

"As you," I reply, smiling with genuine warmth that I try to conjure up. I hope it doesn't wobble.

Giuseppe interrupts. "All of this is nice, but we should start enjoying the _delectable_ first course." He claps his hands and more servants appear, carrying plates and utensils, salads, chickens, and glasses of what looked similar to red wine, only thicker. Richer.

They set two plates in front of us. I watch as they give us all an extra fork and blow out white cloth napkins before spreading them on our laps. I mumble a thank you before the man behind me disappears. As only one round of the servants are left, they place the red drink in front of each us before bowing and scurrying away.

"May we eat in content!" Giuseppe shouts. The clattering of utensils fills the room, and I look down to pick up my own set.

"Would you pass me the pepper?" Dimitri leans down to say in my ear. His voice was silky and somehow the warmest I had ever heard him speak. The smile was evident in his voice. As I passed him what felt like a crystal shaker, it reminded me of my past irritation.

"You never told me this was a family dinner." I hissed up into his ear.

He looks down at me, eyes encasing a humorous demeanor. "You never asked."

I sigh in frustration. "Why was I brought to this? I am not part of your family."

His eyes change into seriousness. "Giuseppe seems to think otherwise."

I shudder, thinking of what Dimitri's Mother had proposed only weeks before; that I was to become the female heir to the throne through a marriage to Dimitri…eternally.

I tear off pieces of the sliced bread and swirl them in the cheese sauce. Although I'm dimly aware of how the flavors burst to life in my mouth, I can't pay attention to the delectable taste they hold because of my own preoccupied thoughts.

So, now, in less than one month, I would have to decide between becoming a vampire or death. In becoming a vampire, I would be changed by Dimitri and be considered royalty. I would drink blood and I would be eternally here on this earth. Unless, of course, someone staked me. And then I have no idea where my soul would go.

But I couldn't worry about my soul right now. If I became a vampire, I would probably lose it and be heartless. The fact that Violet would be becoming one of them in a short period of time shattered my heart into edgy shards. She would be cold and hard, like the rest of them.

If I chose death, well, I guess that would be the end. That would be it. Nothing more. It was a hard concept to grasp.

Violet would become a vampire. Jer would finally take his bride for eternity on earth and wherever else was, in the next life for them. My parents would be in a depressed state for a while, but they would slowly move on and fabricate their lives all over again, like they did every generation. Charlotte would either tag along with my family or create a new life somewhere else in the world. Jeanelle and Katy would be sad and mourn for awhile once they heard I was dead in some lie my parents spun, but they would finish their lives like I had mine, except they would gravitate towards a happier ending, like finishing college, meeting a husband and having kids before dying in their elder years.

Life would go on, and the earth would keep unraveling its time.

Even Dimitri would move on. He would probably live his prideful way and traipse through his everlasting life freely, carelessly. He would find a mate or two, or possibly even more before discarding of them when they were useless once more.

He would find a mate. The thought made fiery red anger boil in the pit of my stomach as it seethed upwards and into my lungs. Just as they reached the base of my throat, my other self took over again.

I felt my shoulders square and my chin lift as I gingerly tore off a chunk of bread and swirled it around in my plate of cheese dip before lifting it to my mouth and chewing carefully.

Dimitri visibly straightened his posture too, and as my rational, human side saw the image we created, Dimitri coiled an arm around my petite shoulders without drawing me in too close. He had been waiting for this side of me to take over. I was now trapped three times over: by his family, the inhuman being using my body as a habitat, and the muscular, possessive arm now coiled around my shoulders.

My human half saw the mistake of the move that had just happened. In front of many family members, Dimitri had put his arm around me in a protective way. And, behind my vampire demeanor that was thankfully holding up at the moment, I understood why I was invited to the family dinner. And it certainly wasn't for Giuseppe.

I was now, officially, Dimitri's, according to his family.

_**~Mia~**_

The very subtle questions weren't so subtle after all. Paul and Karlene were the only ones who cut me some slack. The rest of the family members, whose names I didn't even bother to try to remember, bombarded me with multiple questions about Dimitri and myself.

"How long have you been living here, Mariella?" One older woman asked. She seemed to be in her mid-forties.

"Just a bit over two months," My vampire side replied coolly.

The woman's eyebrows shot up. "What a short time for you to-" she cuts off and looks between Dimitri and me. "Get to know each other."

_I _would have rolled my eyes, but my vampire nature just laughed in a trilling voice. I look up to Dimitri. "Indeed." I say warmly.

I'm sure, by the look that crosses his face, he is thinking of what had happened earlier today in his bedroom. He gives me a shy, uncomfortable smile. The vampire me returns it vigorously.

As the questions slowly subside, Giuseppe raises his newly refilled glass high up above his head. "To our newest family member!" He bellows. "And to our incredibly beautiful guest." He looks over at me, his eyes landing on Dimitri's hand nonchalantly resting on my shoulder. "Cheers, my dear family!'

The family raises their glasses and clink them together with the surrounding ones. They repeat Giuseppe. "Cheers!" Violet hesitantly eased her glass up slower than the rest of them, and I watched as Jer gave her a reassuring smile and lifted her hand higher. She smiled back and he kissed her on the cheek.

My vampire half was too eager to join the family declaration, and I quickly held my glass up and let my voice melt in with theirs. Dimitri smiled, praising me for my boldness.

As we dropped our glasses down, everyone sipped out of them. I started to follow, but my realistic human side that had been dominant for most of my life realized that this wasn't just red wine; there was blood mixed into it.

I had a battle between the two sides. My rational, human side pushed to set the glass on the table and push it away. The rusty odor emanating from the glass made me want to gag.

On the other hand, my newly shown vampire side yearned for the glass. _Just a sip, _she cooed in my brain. Unlike the rusty smell, to my vampire half, the blood smelled amazing. It was a tangy citrus mixed with natural smells, topped off with some amazing blend of a smell that was indescribable.

With all my emotional and physical strength on the human side, I pushed the glass back towards the table while everyone sipped from their own glasses. Except Violet, of course. I had a feeling she was watching my internal struggle, because she silently slipped underneath the large table and swiped the glass from my hands, poured it out onto the carpet and left the glass several feet away from me before crawling back to her own chair just in time for everyone else to finish their drinks.

The fire that had struck up in my belly while thinking about Dimitri finding mates now dwindled, causing my human side to come back into play just as Violet winked at me from across the table. I mouthed a relieved "thank you" to her and made a mental note to give her a favor in return

Soon after, the dinner ended and many unknown vampires from Dimitri's family hugged me. Karlene and Paul were the only ones I recognized, and they gave me big hugs. As Karlene hugged me, she whispered into my ear, "Please join our family, Mariella. It's about time we have more than one girl join us at a time."

I smile and say thank you before telling her to call me "Mia." There was no need to be formal when she was as nice as she was.

"Mia." She smiles and kisses my cheek before flitting out the door.

Paul walked up to me and gave me a grizzly bear hug. "I hope to see you next time in a full vampire form, fireball." He says, using the nickname he had given me. Fireball. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed to make sense to everyone else in the room.

When everyone had left except for the people who lived here, I graciously thanked Giuseppe for inviting me to the dinner. Dimitri hugged me and gave me a formal goodnight kiss on the cheek. Jer kissed Violet full on, and the two brothers were off.

I linked my arm through Violet's, and we set off towards my room.

"And now, I am officially accepted." She breathes in relief. I laugh. "Apparently, I am too."


	18. Chapter Seventeen :Social Escapade:

_Here's a long chapter for you guys! It's my Christmas present to you! Merry, Merry Christmas, or Hanukah if it's already passed, or whatever other religions you all celebrate! Hope it's been a great one!_

_Review as my Christmas present? _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Seventeen_

_**~Dimitri~**_

"So, brother, what do you plan on doing?" Jer asks me as we walk up towards our quarters.

"In relevance to what situation?" I question him.

He stares at me. "With Mariella, what else? Do not try to engage yourself in yet another delusion in which you do not adore her. It is so obvious to everyone in the house."

I look back at him. "Wait for her answer. That is what I will do. Is there anything else I can do?"

Jer smiles. "Win her over, little brother." He ruffles my hair teasingly, although I am taller than him. "Dimitri, make her _swoon." _ He says the word in a strained romantic voice. I laugh at his effort.

"When I have time to actually think about my options with a clear mind, then I will tell you my plans. But at the moment, I am so exhausted it is truly unfathomable." I say, feebly smiling at my elder brother. "And what of the wedding arrangements, Jer? Have those been coordinated yet?"

He squints in concentration. "A little bit. Violet wants to go pick out a wedding dress and decorations for the reception with Mariella, but I am not certain that is a good idea."

"I am not sure either. It will either encourage her in the our direction or completely sadden her, and I'm not positive I'm willing to take that risk."

Jer claps me on the back. "That's the spirit." He says jokingly before getting serious. "I have been waiting for someone to change you into the levelheaded human you were again. And I think we found her." He smiles. "I like her already."

"Less than one month, Jer," I say skeptically. "And she still has her mind set on death."

Jer raises his eyebrows. "You better get to work, then."

"Indeed." I say before grasping his forearm as he grasps mine and hug him in the traditional brother grizzly hug.

"Good night, brother." Jer says and walks down the hall towards his chambers.

"As you, brother." I call to his back. I know he hears, although he doesn't give an indication.

I enter my own bedroom and keep the switch off. Instead of changing into pajamas, I simply strip off the fancy clothing and dip into bed bare-chested. I get to sleep quickly, my dreams completely monopolized with Mariella.

It wasn't until I woke up would I realize that I hadn't remembered a dream in over 230 years.

_**~Mia~**_

I hear a ripping cord, as if someone was bungee jumping and the rope was scraping against a rock.

"Rise and Shine, Sleeping…." The voice cuts off. "Bedhead is more like it." It giggles.

I groggily open my eyes to see Violet standing over me, thankfully blocking out the rays of the sun.

"I don't want to get up," I mumble. It comes out as "Ifsh dons swanna getsh up." As I turn my head into the pillow.

Two hands on my shoulders shake me awake. "Mia, I'm sorry, but Giuseppe requested 'your presence.'" She made bunny ears at me. "So, your presence will be given."

I grumble. "Why does he want me there? He saw me last night."

Violet shrugs. "Every family member is invited to go. It must be something pretty big, because Giuseppe usually eats in his bedroom alone."

Cold chills dance their fingers along my spine. "So that means you're going too, right?"

Violet nods. "Yep." She turns away from me to grab a royal purple sleeping dress. "Put this on."

"Why?" I ask, examining it and realizing that Violet was wearing the same one, except it was blue.

"There are dress codes for these occasional breakfasts. The guys have to wear these ridiculous pajamas." She snorts. "The first time I saw Jer getting changed into a set one morning I laughed so hard…" She cut off, realizing what she was implying. Her cheeks blushed scarlet. "Anyways, here you go."

I laugh. "Don't worry about it, Violet. I understand." She smiles hesitantly. "But why am I wearing purple and you're wearing blue?"

Violet fidgets. "Let's wait to answer that question later, until after breakfast or something."

Her words made me nervous, but I quickly slipped the dress on and brushed through my hair. Violet handed me a pair of black shoes that were embedded with diamond shaped studs, and I quickly put them on. They were surprisingly comfy, like slippers.

"Here we go!" Violet says, links her arm through mine, and we walk. As we pass the ballroom, I stop her.

Violet stepped slowly up the stairs as she quickly explained things to me in a low voice. "Mia, it's crucial, if you want to have an enjoyable-" She cuts off as I shoot her a look. "Endurable, stay here, that you act properly at this. Don't fidget. Sit with your back tall and look everyone in the eye, whether it is comfortable or not. You will sit by Dimitri, who will automatically treat you like family. Even though he has been pleasant so far, Giuseppe will try to crack you, test you. But don't break, okay?" She stops and looks at me as we reach the top of the steps. I nod ferociously, making sloppy notes in my mind. "Don't make the same mistake as me." She whispers, pausing. But then she quickly jerks herself away from a memory. "Stand tall and proud. No one likes a sloucher," She added on with a wistful smile.

As we slowly made our way through the long upper hall and climbed up another flight of spiral steps, we entered the top floor of the house. The greenery and all of Giuseppe's chambers were on this floor. Violet led me past the greenery, through a large hall and through two large one-way glass doors. "Proud." Was the last word she whispered before letting go of my arm, opening the door, and smiling at the four awaiting people. Giuseppe, Jer, Dimitri, and Giuseppe's wife, whose name I had yet to learn.

Giuseppe's wife sat next to him, sitting tall and wearing a red dress. What was with all the different colors? Violet slid into her chair next to Jer with ease. I, on the other hand, formally and proudly walked over to Dimitri, who held out a red velvet chair for me, which I graciously accepted.

I looked around the room. The large rectangle oak table was placed in the middle of the room. Facing west (which was also the direction I was facing) was a large glass window, which I also suspected was one-way glass. It looked out over the whole front lot, and even some of the forest. The rest of the walls were painted royal red, a deeper color than Giuseppe's wife's dress.

I looked at Dimitri, and immediately held back a laugh. Violet was completely right-their mandatory clothing was horrible. Dimitri wore a one-piece pajama outfit. The main color was black but every now and then a dark red would appear in a splotch. I looked down underneath the table and saw they were footy pajamas. I was incredibly jealous.

Giuseppe, in his normal formal routine, clapped his hands twice. "Everyone is here. How delightful!" He eyes me. "Mariella, how nice of you to join us. You remember my wife, Zair."

"Mariella, it's so nice to see you again!" She sing-songs. Her voice was like thousands of wind chimes clinging together into a harmonious melody. My heart skipped a beat as I numbly smiled back at her. Why was I here, anyways?

Apparently, I had zoned out, because when Giuseppe said my name again, I snapped back into attention. "Mariella?" I look at him. "I asked what you your opinion of your dress?" He inquires, raising an eyebrow.

I square my shoulders, giving Violet a glance to see she is chewing on her fingernail anxiously. I look back to Giuseppe, who waits for my answer.

"It is very…comfortable." I say kindly.

Giuseppe clapped. "Good good!" Servers came out and handed out meals. Placed in front of me was a stack of four medium-sized pancakes, smothered in melting butter and authentic maple syrup. Fresh strawberries laid on a plate to my right. I supposed they were for Dimitri and me to share.

Everyone around the table grabbed each other's forearms. I hesitantly took Dimitri's and let my left hand hang down in my lap. "Wealthy eating to us all!" Giuseppe booms, raising his glass of red wine and blood. The others joined in. Except for Violet, of course, who sat there awkwardly. I watched her, because I didn't feel like raising a glass either.

I immediately dug into my pancakes. Giuseppe caught me right as I stuffed a large forkful in my mouth. "So, Mia, have you thought about your decisions?"

I almost spit my mouthful on the table. "It is okay if I call you Mia, right?" Giuseppe asks, trying to make eye contact with me as I chew and swallow.

I nod my head and begin to speak once I have an empty mouth. "Yes, that's alright." I pause. "Actually, I have given thought to it. But I am still not sure about my decision."

Giuseppe smiled. "Good. You need more time to…explore… each option." It was clearly visible how much Dimitri tensed up.

Zair swooped in and saved me from an awkward moment with Dimitri, whether she knew it or not. "Oh, Mia, it would be wonderful if you would join us! I mean, think about it. You, me, and Violet could all go shopping and take a girl's vacation once a year and we could go hunting and…" She went on and on, but the beautiful painting she had created in my mind shattered when she said "hunting". In my mind's eye, I saw the three of us plunging into an innocent person and sucking the life out of them. I started to shake my head, but then remembered that Giuseppe was in the room, so I shook myself internally and opened my eyes to the room.

Zair and Violet were deep in conversation about their first girl's vacation. I heard something about Brazil. Taking deep breaths, I looked outside. If I could just distract myself long enough and answer Giuseppe's questions I would be okay. Oh, look, I thought giddily. A blue jay flew by the window and circled above a few of the giant oak trees that created the border of the forest. Below the blue jay, a white bunny hopped around a puddle in the grass. An airplane flew across the sky, but I didn't hear the noise of the rumbling engines, which would have been incredibly comforting at this point. A willow tree far down the road swayed in the morning breeze. I sighed quietly. This was nice. Seeing everything without any distractions and no one to interrupt me with useless babble-

"I am sorry. Sometimes my mother can be overwhelming." The warmth of Dimitri's breath tickled my cheek.

"It's no problem," I say, thankful that my voice wasn't wavering. "I like her, I think." Dimitri chuckled.

"That's good, because she certainly likes you. You may not have much free time anymore, now that you have truly spoken with my mother."

I smile. "I need someone to pass the time with, don't I?"

He tilts my chin to look up into his eyes. "Why don't you spend some time with me?"

I search his onyx eyes for a sign of a game; any game that he could try to play on me. All I saw was a question in them.

"I.." I falter lamely. Dimitri flashes me a quirky smile.

"Make it up to me today. We are spending the day together. Alright?" He raises an eyebrow.

I was shocked by his words. Utterly, completely shocked. But I couldn't say no, could I? Did I want to say no?

Instead of voicing my thoughts, I nodded my head numbly and said "Okay." He smiled.

"Good." He said, and let his finger drop from my chin. I leaned in closer for a moment, but then realized what I was about to do, and I pulled back in a jerky manor. Looking around the table, I saw smug looks on Violet and Jer, and a mischievous look from Giuseppe. Zair was smiling her fool head off. I ducked my head and dug into my pancakes.

A few minutes later, Dimitri and I reached for strawberries at the same time, and our hands brushed against each other. It wasn't the typical "I am in love so whenever we touch there is a jolt of shock" touch, it was just a sweet, warm touch. Dimitri used to be so cold to me. Now he was warmer? I was definitely giving way to my vampire half.

"So, Mia," Zair catches me in the middle of a large bite. "Girls vacation in Brazil for sure. It would be splendid if you would join us! Oh, and just think of how beautifully you would fit into a red dress! I mean, you look astonishing in the purple, and that's only the beginning of royalty!" Zair fans herself with her hand. "I would be so happy to call you my daughter-in-law, you are so gorgeous!" Once again, I was insanely grateful that my face didn't turn red when I was embarrassed.

"Wait." I stop Zair mid-sentence. "What do you mean the purple dress is only the beginning of royalty?" Everyone goes silent. Zair stares at me.

"No one told you?" She says, bewildered. She slowly turns to look at her husband, who ducks down and stares at his red-rimmed glass of blood and wine, ashamed. "You didn't even bother to tell her?" Zair asks him, her voice pumping rage with each word. "The first acceptable girl we have had in centuries and you _didn't tell her? _Giuseppe, you can't do that, dammit!" Zair growls before abruptly standing up and walking around the table towards me.

"Dear, we will talk later. I need to leave the room before I break something…or _someone._" Zair shoots Giuseppe a dry look.

Giuseppe looks up at me, smiling warily. "So, I guess you want to know what the colors mean?"

I nod, giving Violet a sideways glance. She chews her lip anxiously.

"Dimitri, why don't you tell her?" Giuseppe says smugly. "You are the perfect one to tell her."

Dimitri clenches his jaw. "No, Giuseppe. I am not telling-"

Dimitri was cut off. "Tell her!" Giuseppe raises his voice. Dimitri sighs reluctantly.

"The blue color that you see Violet wearing signifies the wearer is a part of the royal family. Black dresses are for retired royalty, which you don't see too often, because, well, most vampires don't give up their thrones until they are dead. Zair and Giuseppe are…" Dimitri paused to glance at his father. "A rather rare occurrence."

I nod numbly. He was beating around the bush.

"Red is for the royalty. And purple is worn by rising royalty; rather, the heirs to the throne." Dimitri finished with a sigh. For a few moments, his words didn't hurt me. So, purple was purple and red was red.

And then I connected what it had to do with me. Like Zair had said, _"Oh, and just think of how beautifully you would fit into a red dress!"_ It made sense.

I was wearing purple. I would be wearing red if I made the decision to live. And, suddenly, another question was answered. I wasn't here for Giuseppe; I was here for Dimitri.

Violet's words made sense now, too. _"Giuseppe will try to crack you, test you. But don't break, okay? Don't make the same mistake as me."_

So I did. I held myself tall and, once again, squared my shoulders. "Thank you for the explanation," I say, meeting Giuseppe's eyes with my own. "It explains much."

Giuseppe's eyes were filled with a mixture of rage, happiness, and pride, from what I could see. He lets out a hearty laugh. "Of course, my dear! And, you enjoyed your breakfast, I presume?"

I smile. "Very much, thank you."

Dimitri stands. "Giuseppe, I am going to escort Mariella back to her chambers now. Please excuse us."

"Of course, son, of course." Giuseppe pauses and turns his gaze on me. "Have a wonderful day, my dear."

"As you." I say, meeting his gaze for the last time before cordially taking Dimitri's arm and being led out of the room.

When we are far enough away, Dimitri bends down to whisper in my ear. "That was horrible. I am truly sorry."

I chuckle. "It was fine. Delicious food."

Dimitri smiles. "I am glad you enjoyed it." After that, we walk in silence until we return to my bedroom door.

"I will come back in one hour to pick you up for our day. Does that sound alright?" He asks me.

I nod. "That sounds great."

"Until then," He says, looking into my eyes as he lifts my hand up to his soft, soft lips. I hold his gaze until he slowly lets my hand drop back down to my side and I turn around slowly and shut the door, blocking him. I hold my breath until I can't hear footsteps, before letting out a huge gust of giddy breath.

_**~Violet~**_

"Jer," I say through a laugh. "No, no. Not right now." I try to push his teeth away from my ear, but, of course, I am only human and he was a vampire; in other words, way too strong for anyone like me. "I just want to say goodbye to all the staff. This will be the last day I actually work with them." A twinge of sadness pricks at me as I say the words, but I couldn't regret the choice to spend eternity with Jer.

"Or, lovely, you could stay here with me, and we could relax all day. Watch some TV, lay in bed, etcetera etcetera." He laughs breathlessly and puts my hand on his chest.

I groan. "Jer, don't do that. We have all eternity for everything! Give me one day to be human?"

Jer growls and rolls on top of me. "But I want you now." He whines, kissing my collarbone repeatedly. I moan.

"No, Jer…" I mumble. "Stop it, please." My attempts were getting weaker, because, of course I wanted to stay in bed all day with the man I loved. But I had to say goodbye to the staff working here. Against my will, I wrap my legs around his torso.

"There you go," He says breathlessly into my mouth.

My mind was slowly losing its willpower as Jer slid off his shirt and pressed against me. I felt his arms vigorously. "No, no, no." I mumble.

"No." I say, firmer, pulling away from him. "No. Jer, no. Stop it." Jer pulled away in shock.

"I love you, but I really do need to say goodbye to them. This will be the last time we will be on the same side." I tell him.

"But you aren't being changed for a month or two!" Jer exclaimed.

"The rest of my time being human will be spent with Mia," I say. "Trying to convince her to become a full vampire and spending as much possible time with her if it is her last month and a half of life."

Jer runs a hand through his unkempt hair. "I know, darling. I know. He rolls off of me. "Go ahead." He smiles. "But I get you tonight."

"I'm all yours," I say with a smile before kissing him quickly on the lips and sprinting out of the room.

After all, it would be my last time working side-by-side with Elizabeth, Cynthia, and the rest of the staff.

_**~Violet~**_

"Oh, baby girl, we'll miss you." Ella twangs in her southern Okie accent. I hug her sadly as regretful tears run down my face.

"You will still see me," I say softly through my tears. "I will be the same person."

Ella pulls back. "But next time, we will be serving you. We won't be equal."

"I will never have anyone serve me. No." I say firmly. "I will still see you guys before I…turn." The words "become a vampire" were still hard to say. "And, since I am royalty, after awhile, Jer could haggle with Giuseppe and maybe I could turn you all, if you wanted. Who knows? Maybe soon, it'll be Dimitri and Mariella I'll have to face off against." I finish off.

Ella's face lit up happily, but then it fell. "It won't happen. Turning us, I mean."

I sternly look at her before slapping her across the face. "That is the last time I will ever get to do that without really hurting you, and damn, it felt good. Now, don't you dare say that, Ella. Keep hoping and I will try my hardest to make it happen for all of you who want it."

"That was sure bittersweet," Ella says through shining eyes as she cradles her face with her hand. "Your words were sweet, but you hand was bitter."

I smile and hug her. "We still have one more day of work together. And, today, I will only be with Mia for probably an hour. She has a date with Dimitri."

The whole staff bustles with excitement. I heard bits and pieces of conversation, like "I knew it would happen" and "Finally".

I hold up my hands. "But guys," I say. "It's not a date to either of them. They are just getting together for the day." The kitchen sighs at my words.

"Now, I am going to go attend to Mia, but I'll be back down soon. Let's get to work and make this day the best we've had!" The staff smiles and hustle to their next job. I see Elizabeth, Cynthia, and the Twins march up to me.

"Don't worry, you guys," I tell them. "I can make Giuseppe and Jer agree with me. But we will need to seriously discuss it, okay?" I tell them. Alea and Jade crush me in their arms. Elizabeth steps forward with one foot, but leaves the other one back, so she is leaning towards and away from me. Cynthia stays back completely.

As the Twins retreat, I look at Elizabeth and Cynthia. Elizabeth is staring at her feet, so I look at Cynthia. "Darling," She says with a smile. "It is truly a lovely offer, but I must refuse. I look forward to seeing my husband in heaven or hell, whatever the Fates have in store for me." A tear rolls down her plump cheek and she comes to hug me. "But I will always be here while I am alive, and I will be your personal chef when you are a vampire."

Tears form in my eyes. "I may have to take you up on that, because I love your food." I tell her with a laugh. I squeeze her tightly.

I look over to Elizabeth. Sighing, she looks up at me. "I don't know." She says.

I pat her on the shoulder. "You can wait for however long you want."

"I guess it will depend on Mia a little bit." Elizabeth admits. "I mean, she is the one who changed my life from a living hell to something bearable here."

I smile. Mia didn't even know how much good she had done in the time she'd been here. "I understand," I say. "Take your time and don't worry about it too much. It will be a few months to a year or two, anyways, because I may not be stable enough. You know, to not completely kill you."

The Twins stare at me in shock for a moment before bursting out in laughter. I glare at them. It was a serious statement! "Sorry, sorry!" Alea breathes through laughs as she clutches her stomach. "It's just funny how you said it." Jade finishes for her sister, coughing.

I turn away. "I'll see you later, guys." I call to them over my shoulder with a smile.

The four of them wave, Cynthia with tears rolling down her red cheeks.

_**~Mia~**_

The worries come rushing into my mind through my ears like water rapids. What if I wear the wrong type of clothing? Are we going hiking or should I wear heels? Did he expect me to wear formal or informal clothing? And should I look sexy or casual?

A knock on my door put them all to a halt before adding 100 more worry-wasps.

It had only been a few minutes. Right? Dimitri couldn't already be back. No. That couldn't be right.

What if I had spent my whole free hour worrying, and totally forgot to prepare? Ah, shit.

"Mia, I am kicking down your door in a few seconds." Violet's threat rings through my ears like they had come out of a French horn. Relieved, I opened up the door for her. She struts in proudly and gingerly sits down on the bed, folding her legs. "What's on your crazy agenda today?" She asks.

I walk over to the body-size window and peek through the curtains. It was a nice breezy day. "Dimitri asked me to spend the day with him."

"Wait, what?" Violet breaks me out of the reverie, and I reluctantly pull my head back into my bedroom to listen to her. "What did you say to him?"

I could tell she was feigning surprise, but I went along with it. "I wouldn't be freaking out if I had said no, Vi." I snap at her, running a shaking hand through my snaggled hair. She raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry," I tell her. "It's just stressful."

"Well, with Dimitri, you never know what's going to happen. I suggest you wear something middle class formal, but bring a change of formal and informal clothing along with you." Violet pauses. "Just in case." She adds.

"Do my make-up please," I tell her. She rewards me with an astonished look. "The Twins will overdo it, like I am going to a ball or something. I just want a casual look." Violet cocks her head to the side, then nods.

"I agree. The Twins, however much I love them to pieces, will overdo it. Okay, come on. Let's go." Violet hops off the bed and heads towards my closet.

"Violet, I said my make-up, not my clothes," I say stubbornly.

She looks back at me with a devious glint in her eye. "I am a package, Mia. You don't get one without the other."

I sigh. "Fine." Violet's laugh peals around the room, vibrating in such a way it sounded like tearing off one layer of an onion.

Violet is mumbling to herself while pulling clothes off of hangers until my floor has become a sheet of strewn clothing. "Violet," I sigh wearily. "Now I am going to have to clean this up when I get back."

"No worries," She says. "Elizabeth and I will do it."

"I don't want you to." I say, sticking out my chin stubbornly.

Violet looks back. "You're not my maid anymore." I say quietly. "After today, you're free to do whatever you want. I don't want to hold you back in your last days of being human."

Tears glisten like thick honey dew drops in her eyes. "Oh, Mia," She says. I hold up a hand while keeping the other one crossed across my ribs.

"Don't." I tell her. "I have made up my mind and you can't stop me."

"I will come whenever I want to." Violet says defiantly.

"I will lock the door then." I state matter-of-factly.

"I have a key." She points out.

"I will have Dimitri and Jer take away your key." Violet starts to respond, but I keep speaking. "And trust me, they will do it. Because, under Giuseppe's orders, I am to be treated of the utmost importance. And while you are still human, you will be considered lower than me." I hated saying the words, but we both knew they were true. "Although it shouldn't be that way," I murmur quietly, looking at the ground. I suck in a big breath of air and look back up at Violet. "I don't want you to have to fret over me anymore. You have done more than enough. And, of course, I will still talk to you and such, but I don't want you as a 'maid' anymore. It doesn't feel right."

Violet comes over and squeezes me in a hug. "You're not getting rid of me that easily." She says. "You're my sister now, and no way are you giving up."

_I already have, _I think, but luckily, I keep it to myself. Violet lets go of me and traipses back over to the closet. She manages to pull out a formal royal blue dress that was embroidered in small sparkles and jewels towards the bottom and on the lip of the corset. For an informal outfit, she chose some nice dark denim jeans and a royal blue blouse. For semi-formal, she chose a button up green oxford shirt and a black skirt that reached my knees. I choose to wear the completely informal first, because it's the comfiest.

Once I have my clothes on, Violet skips over to the bathroom. Checking the clock in the mirror, she realizes I only have ten minutes.

"Shit," She curses. "Okay, this is going to be quick and I'm sorry if it scratches at all." She pulls out a dark blue eyeliner stick, some mascara, shimmering blue eye shadow, and some lip-gloss. "Here we go," She murmurs before whistling a small stream tunnel of her minty breath into my face. "Eyes wide and look up." She tells me. I feel the familiar scrape of the pencil on my waterline for a moment before I hear "Close." I close my eyes and feel the push on the top of my eyelids, right against my eyelashes. "Open." I hear. Still whistling, Violet twirls the brush of mascara in the tube before curling the black mascara onto my lashes. "Close." I hear once again. A smooth finger rubs along my eyelids, and I feel a wet finger for a moment before the air dries the wet away.

"Open." Violet commands again. I open and am greeted by a coconut flavored smear finding its way over my lips. "Bop." Violet tells me, and I open my mouth and close it, spreading around the lip-gloss. "Good. Turn around and look at yourself while I shove these clothes somewhere so it doesn't look like you have been desperately trying to find the right outfit.

As Violet dances out of the room, I turn around to look in the mirror. The blue eyeliner really brought out the color of my auburn hair and the mascara made my eyes look twice as big as they usually were. Blue eye shadow was spread just along the line of my lashes on the top like eyeliner, and on top of that, a light brown smear. In other circumstances, I would have thought I looked like an owl, but I actually looked good-scratch that- like a normal teenager. If only I were normal.

A knock on the door froze both me and Violet. She shoots me a glance, and I jump off the sink, calling "One moment!" to Dimitri.

I help Violet push the rest of the clothes that had fallen all over into my mattress before I straighten up, grab my handbag (which Violet slyly snuck the coconut lip gloss into) and opened the door. There stood Dimitri, in a tight gray short-sleeved shirt and jeans that showed off the muscles in his legs. He smiled and shook his head, offering his hand. "Shall we?"

I nod and take it hesitantly. Right before the bedroom door closes, I see Violet pose me a smile and wink. I smile back at her before rushing to catch up with Dimitri.

_**~Dimitri~**_

After ten minutes of internal debate, I decided to leave the rose behind. It was not like we were going on a date. In fact, Mariella didn't even know what we were doing.

I stood at her door, hands running wildly over my body to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, like a credit card or both cell phones.

I knocked on her bedroom door, shifting my weight to one side. "One moment!" I hear her call. There is a muffled scrambling sound, and I hear feet slip across the wooden floor inside before Mariella opens the door with a glittering smile. She wasn't wearing anything formal. For the first time since she had gotten here, she looked at ease with her human self. She looked like a normal human teenager.

"Shall we?" I ask, extending my hand. She takes it and nods. Violet sends Mariella a teasing look before we are walking away as the door shuts behind us. I glance down at our hands at the moment she drops mine to fix her hair back into a ponytail. "I never have-nor will I-" I say in fascination as I watch her, "understand how girls can put their hair up in such an elegant and easy way so quickly."

Mariella stays stark at that. "A wonder of the world for men, I guess." She says absentmindedly. Slowly, I see her begin to transform back into her human self. It was truly endearing. As I lead her to the front doors, I begin to imagine how she would look to an average school teenager. Confident, pretty, smart, and maybe a bit conceited in some minds. I could see the imaginary group of followers trailing behind her like a cat's tail.

I open the front door for her and she steps through, staying quiet. Her hands drop to her sides as she finishes the ponytail. Outside, a black range rover sits, the engine purring with energy. Although I offer Mariella my hand up into the passenger's seat, she drives it away with her eyes and hops up herself. Quickly, I shut her door and walk over to the driver's side. As I hop in, she eyes me wearily. "You're driving?" She says, uncertainty in her voice.

"Is that a problem?" I ask her, raising an eyebrow. Her skeptical look answers for me, but nonetheless she shakes her head and looks forward.

"Where are we going?" She says as I put the car into gear and start the drive down slowly through the twists and turns of the treacherously long driveway.

"To the mall," I say. I see her eyes go wide.

"As in, the mall? For humans?" She asks incredulously. I smile at her bewilderment.

"It is not just for humans," I laugh. She watches me with guarded eyes. I look over to her. "We vampires do manage to squeeze some mundane shopping into our busy schedules." Her gaze quickly falls away.

We stay in silence for awhile until Mariella turns on the radio, fiddling with it. All the channels save one were static, so, we ended up listening to some unknown young country singer twang on his guitar about a leather shoe and a fiddle. I guess it was better than nothing.

A few times, I try to catch her eye, but she keeps her gaze fixed on the moss covered tree trunks surrounding us. I sighed quietly in frustration. If only she would stay open to the thought of being versatile, like she had been this morning. It was wonderful and horrible at the same time. Such a strong woman was attractive, yet nearly impossibly to deal with.

Over the quiet country accent of the singer and the light strum of the guitar, I could hear the river underneath the bridge we crossed over. The water struggled to get past the forming wintry attributes that would soon hold the river still until spring.

Without looking at me, Mariella asked "How long does it take to get down into the cities?"

"Roughly two and a half hours." I say, adjusting into a comfortable position.

"Why are we going?" She asks, glancing towards me in what I perceived to be a subtle gesture.

"I decided you should have an informal wardrobe that suits your liking," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Oh." Is all she says. After a few minutes, I hear her again. "No Christmas?" She asks, her face and her tone in bland expressions.

"You could have one," I say quietly. The struggling roar of the rushing water from the river became louder in the car, and the country music seemed to fade into a hushed white noise. The thoughts were as tangible as words, although they were tacit. Dawning on a realization was always the worst; Mariella had already made up her mind.

Damn, silence really was the loudest.

We turned a bend in the road. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mariella pull out her phone as her thumbs move rapidly over the touch screen. I eye her, then the phone, making a quick decision.

I lean over and snatch the phone from her hands. She yelps in surprise before smacking me repeatedly. "WHAT THE HELL?" She screams at me, her face contorted into a façade of anger.

I pocket the phone in my back pocket-the one furthest away from her-and keep driving, eyeing the road steadily. "I cannot have you contacting anyone, especially because we are leaving the manor for a good period of time."

"Dammit, give me my phone back!" She screams, punching and slapping me.

"No way," I say, grinning smugly. "You'd have to go through hell to get that back."

She grits her teeth together, setting her jaw. "I already am in hell, you sick, arrogant, conceited bastard!"

"If we ever have a child, I will be sure to remind you of that _enticing _name you just called me." I say matter-of-factly.

"Ugh!" She cries, slamming her fists down hard onto her thighs. I see frustration emitting from her like a brightly-lit firefly. Her lower lip trembles with anger, and I watch her clench and unclench her fists methodically.

I curse inwardly. I was not really helping my chances of her choosing eternity.

_**~Mariella~**_

I don't know I had been so grouchy with him before he stole my phone. I mean, he had truly been making an effort to be nice, and I had pushed him away.

Of course, until he snatched my phone, that is. That would set any girl off, vampire, human, and whatever the hell else there was.

Luckily, I was good with the pouty expressions of sadness. I had a very extensive (and regretful) history with overpowering boys. If I could take on John Freesman last year from our football team, surely I could take on one asshole vampire.

My bottom lip started to quiver in that shaky, inconsistent way as my eyes got huge and angry. I looked down into my lap, where I folded my hands and partially covered my face with my hair.

Dimitri didn't budge. I growled in my mind at a loss. That approach had never failed before.

Taking action was the next step. Luckily, I had the element of half-surprise on my side. Half-vampire equals half-super speed, and, before Dimitri could react, I yanked the steering wheel hard to the right. He shouted and we swerved in a jerky manor towards the right, heading for a large, condensed semi-circle of unkempt trees. As Dimitri's body wobbled through the seat, I stuck my hand under to grab my phone. Sadly, Dimitri had figured out what was going on, and he sat down with force, crushing my hand.

Still, the car was spinning out of control, and deer were prancing around us wildly. "Dumb deer," I thought, frustrated. "You don't run around a spinning car."

Dimitri managed to yank the spinning car to a stop. My breathing was ragged, and, despite the whole point of the plan-which was to get my phone back-I couldn't remember anything else than him right now.

He looks over to me. "Are you okay?" He asks worriedly.

I nod. "Are you?"

"Physically. Dammit, you nearly gave me a heart attack." He states, white rage crisp in his voice.

"Your heart doesn't beat." I point out through my panting.

He frowns. "Exactly."

A crushing force became clear on my left hand as I realized Dimitri was sitting on it. "Can you, uh," I start awkwardly. He also realized that he was sitting on my hand, and, with a graceful (yet somewhat cocky) amount of skill, he managed to keep the phone in his back pocket away from my hand, which I was hoping to tightly wrap around my phone so that at least, I could have it back.

I sigh. "Could I at least call my parents and tell them I'm alright?" I ask him dubiously. Dimitri pauses.

"If you make a single move to hint or clue as to where you are or where you will be going, I will have to break the phone. And block your number; I can't have it be traceable." Dimitri replies.

I obviously made a pained face, because Dimitri leaned over and started to put a hand up to cradle my face before thinking better of it. His hand wavered there for a moment, as if a shimmering force stopped it before he set it back down on the steering wheel. "Mariella," He said softly. The soft, bittersweet tone in his voice caught my attention. "I would not have this; have you locked up on ball and chain this way if I were in charge. But I am not in charge; my father is. And I have no way of stopping him. If I disobey him, both you and I will be... disposed of."

I nod regretfully. There were so many things I needed to say, yet all I could utter was "Okay" through chattering teeth. They weren't chattering because of the cold. They were chattering because he had gotten so close to touching my face. They were chattering because I would get to speak to my parents without giving them any clue as to where I was. In most circumstances, I would try to outsmart the person who was holding me hostage, but, in this case, I felt as if Dimitri and I were equals.

Dimitri starts up the car again and backs it out of the trees before we are driving on the road again. "Can I see the phone?" He slows the car to a stop on the side of the road so that he can put his full attention on me.

Slowly, he pulls my iPhone out of his back pocket. My hands itch to snatch it from his clutch, but I restrain. He holds it up in front of both of our faces.

"I want to trust you." He says so quietly I barely catch it. I inhale a sharp breath. The air between us was charged, and I became aware of how hard I was breathing. Hell, I was nearly panting. "Can I trust you?" He asks me, his breath softly ricocheting off of my face. He smelled like aftershave, mints, and the tangy smell that was so exotic and intoxicating to me. I knew what it was, but I wouldn't dare admit the word to myself. _Blood. _

I shivered as it ran through my mind, but I gulped down the fear of the word down and nodded my head. Slowly, Dimitri's face retreated away from mine as he handed me the phone. I hadn't realized until just barely that our noses had almost been touching. He looked straight ahead and started up the idling car, speeding down the road. We were still in what seemed like the mountains. Covering the speaker, I ask Dimitri "Is this whole place up in the mountains? Is it all yours?"

"Yes to both." He answers, keeping his gaze locked on the bend in the road ahead.

"It really is amazing how-" I am cut off by a familiar, soothing voice. Charlotte.

"Hello?" Charlotte calls into the phone. I couldn't reply; my lips wouldn't move. She couldn't really be on the other end of the line. I was dreaming. After another moment, I hear her voice again. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

I gulp, swallowing the sticky bile that was as thick as molasses in my mouth. "Charlotte, it's me. Mia." Silence, followed by more silence. Wasn't she glad to hear from me?

"Charlotte?" I say again. "Are you there?"

Silence, once again. I am about to hang up when I hear a loud sob from the other end. I cringe away from the phone; Charlotte was really loud.

"Mia!" She exclaims delightedly. "Honey, I thought you were gone for good. We have missed you so much! I just don't know what to do, should I clean up your room first or organize the closet or make dinner or…" She ranted on happily, all the while, I could hear tears streaming down her face. I could picture her in my mind's eye now. She was standing in the living room, fat, bursting tears rolling down her pale cheeks like ice cream dripping down a sugar cone on a sunny day.

"Charlotte," I say. "Stop." Her joyous ranting halts. I sigh. "I'm not coming home."

Again, silence. But it was shorter this time. "What do you mean?" She asks me in a small voice.

I pause. "I mean that I-" I look over to Dimitri. His jaw was clenched tight, his eyebrows furrowed in a sharp V, hands gripping the steering wheel as if he was holding onto the drop-off of a cliff.

"I am not allowed to go," I say quietly.

"Where are you, dear?" Charlotte asks.

"I-I can't tell you." I say, choking back a sob. "But don't worry. I'm fine. I'm being treated well."

"Tell me where you are, Mia." She says, her voice raising a couple octaves as she becomes frantic.

"I can't, Charlotte-"

"Mia, tell me where you are!" She screams from the other end. "Let me come pick you up! Please!"

By some amazing miracle, I watch Dimitri's hands grip the steering wheel tighter. "Charlotte, I-I can't."

"Of course you can, honey. Tell me." She says, calming herself down.

Her previous hysteria and my previous calmness switch places.

"I can't unless I want to die, Charlotte!" I scream. Her intake of breath is enough of a response. We were both silent for a few minutes. Dimitri's grip on the steering wheel stays the same.

"Can I speak to my parents?" I finally ask quietly.

"They aren't home," Charlotte replies. "Grocery store. Could we call you back?" I see out of the corner of my eye Dimitri's jaw popping out. Damn vampires; they could listen in on any conversation within a 20 or 30 mile radius.

"I wish I could," I say, small thin tears running down my cheeks. "I know you were telling the truth. About vampires, I mean." I almost whispered it into the phone.

"We'll get you back, Mia." Charlotte says, venom and regret mingled into her tone. "I love you too. Take care, honey." She sniffles on the other end.

"I love you, Charlotte." I tell her truthfully. "Tell my parents I love them." I sob out before tapping "End". For a moment, I watched the "Call ended" message appear. When the message disappeared, I powered off my iPhone and set it down in a cup holder. Tears still streaming down my cheeks, I pulled my knees up underneath my chin and rocked myself back and forth as easily as I could without taking my seatbelt off. And I cried. It didn't matter anymore; Dimitri wouldn't-shouldn't-care if I cried.

_**~Dimitri~**_

She wouldn't stop crying. From the corner of my eye, I noticed her rocking herself in a tightly formed ball. It wasn't really working, though. Inertia kept her leaning forward; rocking forwards and backwards in a moving car is not easy as one thinks.

"_Shane, stop crying." Father snaps. _

_ "But…" I sniffle. _

"_No buts." He says. "And stop rocking. It will damage your fighting stance when you are older." _

_ "Yes, Father." I say, cleaning up my tears, using my hands as mops. _

"_Ah-" Father says. I cut him off. I knew what he was going to say. I correct the word "Father". _

_ "Yes, Giuseppe." _

I shake away the flashback. What if she couldn't pull herself together by the time we were at the mall? An hour and a half was left for the drive there, at least. I wanted to do something, anything, for her.

Her sobs were pathetic; small, choking sounds that pulled their way out of her throat in a squeaky manner. Frankly, they were raucous. For anyone else, I would have stopped them without thinking twice, but with her, it was terrifying for me to hear her that way.

Of course, if I tried to help, she would cringe away and scream. The situation put me in a state of sheer abasement. Female humans were a hassle. And, right now, Mariella was completely human.

Another sob tore out of her throat. It sounded wet and worse than the others. I glance over at her to see scarlet wrapping around her fingers and hands.

"Shit." I swear vehemently. The coursing, pluming smell of her blood swirled around me like an aura, and I was suddenly ensconced by the perfume of her blood. She looks over at me, fear blatant in her face. In a jerky fashion, (while trying to ignore the smell) I pull the car over to the left and run over to her side. She opens the door, and, despite what had happened just before with the phone call, she willingly let me scoop her up into my arms and run her over to the water.

"What's happening?" She asks weakly.

"I don't know," I answer her honestly as I set her down by the stream's edge. "Don't touch anything, okay?"

She nods. "Alright." I run back to the car and grab some tissue boxes that were always kept in the trunk. Taking three deep breaths of somewhat clearer air, I walk back over to her.

I come back and find her tongue sticking out to her hand on one small drop of red. She tastes it with the tip of her tongue. Shivers run down her spine. I decide to interrupt her there.

"Here you go." I hand her one box of tissues and, shakily, she takes it and holds a wad of tissues up to her nose.

"I found out it was just a bloody nose." She tells me honestly. "It ran down my throat, and when I coughed it came out." She pauses. "It didn't feel so great."

I laugh, running a disoriented hand through my hair. "I bet it didn't." The smell was still pungent in the air.

She sighs. "Can we just sit here for a few minutes? We can get back in the car soon, I swear."

How could I say no to those honest hazel eyes that were focused on me so intently? Well, and, of course, she was the source of the smell that set my insides on fire. "It's fine." I tell her, choking down a rip of desirous growls. I lean back against a nearby boulder, running my tongue along my canines and willing them with all the power I contained not to show, because, if they came out, there was no way I could stop myself. Meanwhile, her eyes become fixated on the crystal white water that roars past just mere feet away.

She breaks the silence first. "If I were to," She starts out quietly, so quiet that I can barely hear her over the rush of the water. "choose, you know…" She pauses and takes deep breaths.

"No, I don't know." I snap, but instantly regret it. I bang my head against the boulder softly. "I'm sorry. Continue. If you were to choose what?" I coax her, softer now.

She goes on, ignoring my switch of moods. "If I were to choose becoming a, a…" She pauses, stumbling over words.

"A vampire?" I finish for her softly.

She nods. "Would I have to marry or anything? Or would I be able to go back with my family? Or would I have to stay in the mansion?"

I had never thought about it. I guess I assumed that she would either be turned and be with me or die.

I ponder the thought for a moment before replying, "Giuseppe has plans for you if you choose to join us. If you turn, the bond that is formed between the vampire and the newly turned vampire is strong. Giuseppe fully intends for you to marry me and become the new queen. However, I would certainly allow you to go and visit your parents." I paused. "If you're queen, no one could really stop you."

She looks at me then, tearing her gaze away from the water. "What do you mean 'The bond that is formed?'"

I return her gaze steadily. "Whoever you are turned by, their saliva and venom becomes a part of you," I start.

"And I would be turned by you." She finishes for me. I nod. A shiver runs down her spine; a small one ran down mine.

"I want to see my parents one more time, before either I die or die and be resurrected into a vampire. Just one more time." She says quietly, pulling the wad of tissues away from her face to find the blood had stopped flowing. "We should get going," She says, standing up and sniffling. "Thank you for the tissues. Really. They helped."

I nod numbly. She hops back into the car, and I fuel the ignition before speeding down the road. Maybe if we went fast enough, I could escape the urge to kill her and take her as mine right then and there. But I doubted it.

_**~Mia~**_

As we hopped back in the car, I turned the seat-heater on. It was freezing outside, and my hands felt like globs of hollow meat. Dimitri's hands were just like they had been when I was talking to Charlotte on the phone; he seemed to be choking the life out of the steering wheel.

I tried to ignore it. I watched the canopy zip by us. "What does Jer eat?" I ask, thinking of how he doesn't drink human blood.

"There are animals around here." Dimitri answers curtly.

"Oh." I say uncomfortably. Why wouldn't he talk?

I dropped it and we slipped into a dark yet somewhat peaceful silence. While his hands never changed their position, I let myself drop into an ease. Numbly, I thought about my options. Recently they had been a recurring thought that sent me in a circle.

If I chose to die and simply die, my family would live on forever. They would grieve me, but heal over the decades. Time would pass and heal their sorrow. Dimitri would move on too. I could picture it. He would find another lady to capture, someone much prettier and smarter than myself. She would have a beautiful face and body, and tease him just as he did her. She would be stubborn at first, but slowly ease into him, just as I do into a Jacuzzi. When her time came, she would choose him forever, the smart decision, unlike me…

These thoughts were crazy! I shook my head, closed my eyes, and took five long, slow breaths to calm myself.

Or, I could be the smart girl. Maybe I wouldn't be as stunning, or as witty, or as playful as her, but I could stay with him forever, or be around him. I could talk with Violet and return to my family after awhile. Hell, I could even see Katy and Jeanelle again! They seemed like a lifetime away. I guess, in a way, they were. Maybe I could even talk to David, explain to him my absence, all that good stuff.

Then again…it all sounded too good. There was probably a catch with becoming a…well, one of them. I probably couldn't leave the property or something like that.

The end of my thought broke me out of my reverie. I looked over at Dimitri, who still had a death-grip on the steering wheel.

"Why won't you talk?" I ask him, harsher than I mean to.

He glances over at me, the muscles in his jaw visibly tightening. "I will talk." He answers in a clipped voice.

I keep my gaze on him, remaining solid. "No, I'm not kidding. What's your problem? Do I stink, or something? Because I showered yesterday, and I was going to shower today, but then you asked if I wanted to do something and so I said yes and-"

"You smell fine," He answers, his voice rising. The tires turn faster against the rubble.

"Then do I look bad? Because really Violet just did something with me quickly and then sent me on my way, and I know I'm not stunning but-"

"You look fine." He answers again, voice angrier this time. More speed sends the tiny black pebbles on the unkempt road flying.

"So it must be that I bother you, then. Why did you even ask to spend a day with me if I bother you so much?" I prod him.

"SHUT UP, DAMMIT, YOU'RE FINE!" He screams. His foot slams down on the acceleration, sending me crashing back into my seat.

"You know," I say calmly. "While you may be indestructible, even at a speed of 10 miles, hitting something can cause serious damage to me."

He growls and keeps his foot rough on the pedal.

I shrug. "That's okay. I don't have too much longer to live anyways."

Dimitri pounds a fist down on the horn in frustration, but eases on the gas pedal as we come up to a turn. So quickly I don't expect it, he swivels in his seat and leans his arms on the rest, leaning over so he can look straight into my eyes. Although I want to watch the road, I am pulled by a hand to look at him.

"Do you know," He breathes. "How hard it is to be around you without killing you?" His voice is deep and rough, as if he can't keep his emotions in control.

With some force that is not my own, I shake my head. "No." I breathe.

"Because," He starts, taking his hand away from my chin. "It is nearly impossible." His voice is almost returned to normal by the time he finishes. Although I keep his gaze, I quietly tell him "You should keep your eyes on the road."

He keeps my gaze. "It is also hard to look at other things when you are around."

I keep his eyes locked with mine for a few more tasteful moments before breaking away and looking out to the road ahead. He, too, turns and puts both hands on the steering wheel. They are still incredibly tight, I notice, but his shoulders are not as tense; he has relaxed.

That is good.

_**~Dimitri~**_

Why, every time I was around her, did she manage to pull something personal out of me? It was frustrating, how she knew exactly what buttons to push. Or, maybe she was the button. Who knew?

"_That's okay. I don't have too much longer to live anyways." _ Her words ring through my head repetitively. Still, even after all this, she chooses death? Thinking back, I guess it hadn't been that much, but regardless. What else could I do to convince her?

I had been staring at the road so intently, I would not have been pulled out of my thoughts if it weren't for her hand. She methodically rubbed my shoulder, harder than an average human could, but not strong enough to release any stress from my muscles. Even though she couldn't bring any tension out of my muscles, she brought the tension, and the stress, and the worry out of _me_. I felt my shoulders and hands relax as Mia brought her other hand up to my shoulder, reached around my seat, and started massaging both of my shoulders.

"Is this okay?" She asks quietly. I want to speak, but if I do, I will probably end up moaning or something inappropriate like that. So, instead, I just nod. A hint of a smile pulls at the corners of her lips. To my surprise, she doesn't pull away; she rests her head down on her arm. I figure that isn't comfortable, so after a few minutes, I lean over and she willingly takes my shoulder as a pillow while rubbing my other shoulder. Yes, it turned out to be a good car ride.

_**~Mia~**_

"Mia, wake up." Groggily I open my eyes to find Dimitri's black ones staring me in the face. They were so close.

"Gah!" I stutter and fall back away from him. He jerks back also, but then laughs and pulls me upright.

"We are here," He tells me. I rub my eyes and look around to see a large parking lot. Bustling crowds are emerging and entering various sets of tall glass double-doors.

I punch down on the seat belt ejector and throw my car door open, inhaling deeply. Smoothies, perfume, cologne, Asian Star, and KFC roam through the air. It reminds me of home.

Breathlessly, I realize we are only twenty minutes away from my house. Great! Maybe I could slip away from Dimitri while using the restroom…

I feel an arm link through mine, and I look up into Dimitri's face. "Dimitri, what are you-"

"You are not leaving my sight

I groan. "Can I just walk by you?" He shakes his head.

"You have displayed to an immense extent how your array of vampire abilities can surface at any random moment. I cannot take that chance."

"But we look like a couple now," I whine.

He looks me straight into my eyes. "So be it." He breathes. After a few moments' pause, he looks up. "Do you have your purse?"

I nod. "Do you have your vamp credit card?"

Dimitri looks at me blankly. "Your vampire credit card." I say exasperatedly. "Somehow, vampires always seem to have an unlimited supply of money."

"Shh. Don't use that word here." He says.

"What? Vampire?" I say, louder than before. A couple with an infant in a stroller walking by us shoots me weird glances.

"I swear, Mariella, I will shove you right back in that car and we will return back to the mansion." He hisses.

I roll my eyes. "Fine. Let's go inside."

Dimitri walked way too quickly for me. "Slow down, will you?" I hiss.

"Or I could just carry you bridal style." He says smugly.

"It's a mall, not a wedding," I spit at him. He laughs loudly, but slows down to match my pace.

As we approach people, their eyes turn to look at us. Well, mostly him, but then they looked at the tramp-me-Dimitri carried on his arm and blatantly smirked in disgust.

"What are we looking for, _dear_?" I say, adding "dear" on at the end just to rub the heist in his face.

"Something sexy of course, pumpkin." He says, playing along in the charade.

"Mm. I'm not sure your family would approve of that, munchkin." I throw back at him.

He leans down and pretends to kiss my ear. "Oh, but I will," He says lustrously. I feel my face turn bright red, and people passing by stop and stare.

"Let's keep moving, shall we?" I say uncomfortably, shifting the attention. Dimitri laughs. "Gotcha." Is all he whispers before moving away and taking my hand.

As we walk into a dress shop, I look at the sparkling gowns that shimmer on the walls. Twinkling music belays off of the metallic silver walls.

"What are we doing here?" I hiss at him.

He smirks. "I'm doing some shopping to my liking as well." I frown in distaste.

Dimitri grabs a dress off the wall. "Honey, what do you think of this?" He asks me. Of course, it is a hideous dress. Large, puffy pink sleeves adorn the shoulders, and blue ribbons fall from the sleeves. A bubble skirt was concealed underneath a layer of yellow cashmere that stopped just above the knees.

I plaster on a smile. "Oh, it's darling!" I squeal, bounding over to him and hugging the dress tightly. "This is the one, I am sure of it."

He stares at me, bewildered, obviously astounded that I thought it looked good. "Mia," He says, leaning in close. "I didn't really mean-" I shove his face away with my hand.

"Oh, hush." I plead in a high-pitched girly tone. Skipping up to the register like a country bumpkin, I smile at the lady behind the counter. Some rich stuck-up woman who was in her thirty's, her auburn hair spun up into a bun on the crown of her head. She filed her nails at an instantaneous rate.

"Where are the changing rooms?" I ask her, exaggerating my smile. She looks me over, then the dress. Sighing, she points to her left. "Down the hall."

Dimitri comes up behind me. "Oh, that won't be necessary-" He starts, trying to grab the dress. I shoo him away.

"Oh yes it will. I want to impress your family, sugar bear." I pucker my lips as I say it. He stifles an eye-roll. I lean up on my tiptoes and peck him on the cheek. "I will be _right._ _Back_." I say, tapping his nose twice before I leave. Behind me, I hear the register lady's voice ranting "How do you deal with someone like that?" Dimitri answers, "Pure love hath no limits, right?"

The lady sighs and doesn't respond. My guess is she was hoping to be swept off her feet by Dimitri and maybe he would ditch me. I subconsciously roll my eyes at the thought.

I push my way into a changing room, slipping off my dark jeans and blouse. Groaning inwardly, I step into the dress, pulling it up over my waist and pushing my arms in the compressed, awkward sleeves. Turning around, I see it is one of those overly annoying dresses that laces up with multiple ribbons in the back. However horrible this was, it was all going to be worth it to see Dimitri's priceless face.

I hear the lightest thud against the ground behind me and look into the mirror to see Dimitri landing on his feet. His facial expression really isn't worth it. A raised eyebrow is all I would get? Pathetic.

A chuckle reverberates from his chest into the small space. "Why, don't you look like a colorful blast from the past."

"What do you mean?" I ask him, sneering.

"Like a 1700's maiden who is wearing a mismatched dress. You know, totally out of this era but still in with it because no woman would wear those colors unless she wanted to be despised forever."

I scoff. "You're odd, you know that?"

He nods. "Indeed." From underneath his jacket, he pulls out a dress. At first glance, it was hideous, and, really, I didn't feel like trying anything else on. As I looked at it again, however, I saw it was pretty. It wasn't one of those extravagant dresses that I usually had to wear; it was a simple pretty, one kind of pretty that I had almost forgotten about. The dress was a harvesting pumpkin orange that flowed down to what seemed would be just above my knees. It was sleeveless but tied up around the neck. "Try it on," Dimitri says, thrusting it towards me.

I glare. "Get out."

"No."

I stare at him in shock. No?

"It will just take longer, and we have other things to do. I will turn around, okay? Just change."

I grumble, but turn towards the mirror, keeping my eyes on him to make sure he isn't peeking. Then again, he saw most of me that one day…

Shivering from the memory, I pull the dress up and tie a bow behind my neck before letting my hair go limp over it. "You can turn around now." I tell him. He looks me up and down a few times before nodding.

"That will be good. Let's drop the nicknames, they bring bile up in my mouth." He tells me.

"Could we pull off brother and sister?" I mumble to myself.

"Good luck with that," He answers, his voice rough.

I hand him the dress on the hanger and shoo him out so I can actually change in peace.

When I come back out, I see him stuffing his credit card into his wallet and holding a metallic bag out to me.

"Thanks for visiting." The lady behind the counter drawls out her rehearsed lines. "Come again and have a sugary day," finishing with a plastic smile.

"Sugary day?" I ask Dimitri.

"'Sugar' is the name of the company." He tells me, once again linking his arm through mine as we weave through the crowd. "Are you ready to begin shopping for informal clothing? We may also need to stop in a make-up store," he mused in an off-hand tone.

"I didn't know you were a fashionista," I tease him.

He rolls his eyes. "I have been dealing with women for many years. I know what they need and or want to hold themselves tall. Really, the make-up and the accessories don't matter about how pretty or ugly you are to the public. What they notice is your clothes and the way you hold yourself."

I stop walking and stare at him in shock. "What?" He asks.

"How the hell do you know all that?" I say incredulously.

Dimitri smirks. "I've had a long time to live, and I still have forever ahead of me. It gets lonely sometimes…" He trailed off and his gaze left my eyes for a few moments before he shook himself out of the reverie. "Come on. Let's stop for the make-up first."

I eye his outstretched hand and, begrudgingly accept it. This time, I lead him to where I want my make-up from.

As we walk into Sephora, I inhale deeply. The smell of building artificial people swirls around me, and it felt like home. I tug Shane over to the eye liner. As I was reaching for a slate grey, Dimitri swatted my hand away and pointed to a silver liner. I stare at it for a moment. "What are you, my new gay best friend?." I hiss under my breath. "Turn around." Is all he tells me as he picks it up and pops off the lid.

Groaning, I walk over to the middle of the store as Dimitri pushes the stick of eyeliner into the palm of my hand. A woman in her early twenties was eager to remake me, and I hastily sat down in the twisty black chair as she inspected me.

"What would go best with this dress?" I hear Dimitri ask the woman. He appeared in the mirror, right behind my chair.

I watched the woman's eyes grow large. Vaguely, I remembered that Dimitri _was_ handsome and his voice made any girl that hadn't met him melt. The woman turned around and inspected the dress. "For her?" She asks skeptically. Dimitri nods.

The woman plasters on a smile. "I know just the thing." She pauses and turns around. "Shoo." She whips her hand in a hostile manner. "You can't see your girlfriend until after she's ready."

It's both mine and Dimitri's turn to widen our eyes. "Him?" I sputter at the same time Dimitri concedes with a smirk. "Oh no, she isn't my girlfriend." I look at him, wounded for a moment, before he proclaims "Not anymore, at least. She recently became my _fiancé_." I swear my jaw could literally detach from my skull and swing off like an unhinged door. Dimitri smiles innocently, a wicked gleam still burning in his eyes, before he plants a kiss square on my lips. "I'll be right back with some food, honey." He says before swiftly turning around and exiting the store in his long-legged manner.

"Well, he sure is a looker, but not one for personality." The woman says, giving me a genuine smile as she starts to work on my face. "Kaelyn. Nice to meet you."

"Mia," I tell her. "And you have no idea. Try being stuck at his house for two months."

"Well, when you marry, it can get a little bit sketchy." She says.

I am about to blurt out that I have been held against my will, but think better of it. "I hear you there."

We talk easily from there, and time flies by. When Kaelyn is done, we exchange numbers. "Oh, could I sneak a phone charger off of you?" I ask her. "Dimitri won't buy one for me and I left my money at home."

Kaelyn winks. "Yeah, I'll go grab one. We keep random junk in the back, and they won't notice one charger gone."

I smile and hug her. "Thanks."

She runs into the back of the large store while I spin around and look at myself in the mirror. She really was good at making someone look…well, good. I simply stared at my reflection until she returned.

Kaelyn came back handing me an unopened box of a wall charger for my Iphone. "There is an extra in there too. Just in case." She whispers.

"Thank you." I say. "Truly." We talk for a few more minutes before Dimitri comes back and stares at my face.

"Lovely," He says, pulling out his wallet and handing Kaelyn a wad of an enormous amount of money. She counts it twice, swearing softly under her breath. "I would also like to take the make-up that you put on her with directions on how to make her look so beautiful again," Dimitri says, handing her another large wad of money.

Kaelyn shakes her head. "Wait, back-up. This first wad is for me? As in, just for me?" Dimitri nods. She looks at me. "Is it illegal money?" She mouths. I shake my head. It was totally legit money.

She nods her head. "Thank you, sir. Let me go grab the unopened make-up from the back." She almost jogs away in excitement.

"Why so much money?" I ask him curiously.

"Well, she might want to buy some stuff before she comes to live with us." He says.

I stare at him incredulously. "No."

"Excuse me?" He says, clearly taken aback.

"You are not doing this to another girl who so obviously has a life. You took away mine, I won't let you take away hers."

Dimitri grins. "Watch me."

The she-monster that was sort of me starts to bubble up, and, before I-she-knows it, we are both slapping him across the cheek. His head snaps to the side with a crack. He slowly brings his head back, eyes widening.

"You will _not do this._" I-she-tells him slowly.

"Mariella, calm down," He pulls me close and whispers in my ear. "I won't take her. Just calm down."

Seething, I pant hard as he holds my shoulders.

"So I put in an extra bottle of mascara, just because it is really good and I thought you might like it…" Kaelyn returns, handing over a bag filled with make-up. "The instructions to duplicate the make-up are in the bag."

Dimitri runs a hand through his hair and graciously plucks the bag from her fingers and, in return, places another generous wad of cash into her palm. "Only two of the handfuls are for you," He says quietly. "The other one is for the make-up. Thank you for baby-sitting Mia here while I shopped."

Kaelyn smiles and hugs both him and me. "Thank you." She says before bounding away. She turns around one last time, winking at me as Dimitri and I walk out.

I felt around in my purse to make sure I had the chargers and my phone. Luckily, I did, and, as we exited the store, I felt myself returning back to me.

Dimitri pulls me over to a bench. "Are you feeling okay?" He asks.

I nod. "I am truly sorry for upsetting you." He says, rubbing my back.

"Just don't do it again and we're alright," I tell him. He laughs and nuzzles my neck. I turn to look at him for a moment, flustered, before we both started to lean in. At the last moment, he turns away. Disappointed but also somewhat relieved, we resumed shopping, and around five o' clock, I'm completely spent. Bags are hanging both of our arms, mostly filled with casual clothing that I'd definitely be wearing in the last month of my stay.

We took a moment to sit down and relax. Dimitri went and bought me a cool lemonade and a water for himself. He watched me sip my lemonade for moments on end before I paused, irritable, and barked "What?"

He gave me a small grin. "You've got some lemon water dribbling down your chin." He brought his thumb to my chin, swiped off the liquid, and closed his lips around his finger. I watched him, mesmerized. We began to lean in in unison.

I felt his warm breath on my lips and was excited for a moment, but then horrified as I heard a voice I hadn't heard in months.

"Mia? If I had known _he _was the reason you were missing, I would have supported you one hundred percent!" Katy's voice shot me back against the back of my seat.

"Katy?" I squeaked, then shot up out of my chair to hug her. She squealed gleefully before pounding me on the back, screaming "What the hell?! Why didn't you call, you stupid bitch!"

Dimitri stood up and tapped my shoulder, clearly agitated. I knew he was about to pull me away. I pulled Katy out of the hug, trying to keep the tears in my tear ducts from rallying and brimming over. "Katy, I wish I could stay and chat, but I really can't stay." She pouted. "You probably won't see me for awhile-" I choked on the word "awhile." Try _never again._ "But I'm alright. I need you to believe me and don't go around telling everyone that you saw me." I swallowed back a sob.

She leaned in close to me. "Did you join some kind of religious cult or something? Did you turn Amish? Because I thought we agreed that we wouldn't do that-"

Dimitri's hand clamped down on my shoulder. "Katy, stop it. No, I didn't join a cult. I've got to go." I embraced her once more and whispered "I love you. I'll miss you and Jeanelle like crazy." I pulled away at the right time, because Dimitri's hand on my shoulder was propelling me towards him, out to the parking lot.

"Wait, Mia! What's going on?" Katy tried to follow after us frantically, but Dimitri threaded the two of us through throngs of crowds. The last I saw of Katy was her anxious face searching for me. I threw her a sad smile before turning around and accepting Dimitri carrying me out to the parking lot.

"I'm sorry." He says regretfully, before running out of the mall with a speed so fantastic that no one would even notice anything save a gust blowing over them. No blur, no nothing but a wind. He looks over at me as he pulls onto the freeway. "I really am sorry, Mariella."

I turn around to look back at the parking lot we have just exited, the parking lot that had the building, which held one of my dearest friends, who I hadn't seen in two months, and probably wouldn't ever see her again. Just below the back window, I see many full bags of newly bought things from that same mall that held Katy.

_**~Charlotte~**_

James's teacup cracked and splintered into shards against the far wall of the kitchen. He turned back to look at me, eyes black with rage. "YOU LET HER END THE PHONE CALL?"

"Wh-what was I supposed to do?" I stammer, backing away from him as he steps forward.

"KEEP HER TALKING!" He shouts, pushing aside a chair and slamming it into the table as he walks by.

"I couldn't! Her-her time was limited, she said!" I breathe through my teeth.

"JAMES!" Saria's voice rang clear throughout the room. "STOP IT."

James turns to look at her. "This…this…this woman let our daughter get away through a phone call! And you tell me to 'stop?'"

"She is our friend, and what could she do? It's not like Charlotte could reach through the phone and grab Mia, James."

"And now you're siding with her?" James's voice rises. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

Saria shoots me an urgent look, and I quickly understand. As James lunges for me, Saria circles around to his back and grabs the back of his neck, tears streaming down her face. She grabs him in a headlock and pins his arms against his back. I grab his legs, and we run down into the basement with James in our arms. He spits curses in a non-stop line of words as we run with him through the halls into a place that each of us knew very well.

Saria releases him into the large cell and quickly shut the metal bars in front of him. James, eyes completely covered through with a pure black, reaches for me and shakes the bars.

Saria's face is stricken with tears. "Honey, do you remember the Salem Witch Trials?" James continues to reach for me unsuccessfully, stopped by the bars of the cell. "We had an actual witch enchant this cell, so that if we came across any vampire that was out of hand, we could imprison him?"

Saria sucks in a shaky breath. "Right now, that vampire is you." James stops and pants, his eyes still crisped over with a black aura. He stares at Saria blankly before shooting a wicked glare in my direction. "You wouldn't really kill Charlotte, I know that. But, right now, this isn't you. And, until I can trust you, you need to stay here." Saria sniffles and rubs her nose. "I love you, nonetheless. I will see you when you're feeling back to yourself." She blows him a shaky kiss, but his eyes remain black and blank.

Saria and I run, as quickly as we can, out of the basement, and when we have shut the door, I remark quietly "Haven't seen a vampire black with rage in awhile." Saria collapses into my arms, shaking in tears and sobs.

_**~Mia~**_

"Mariella, I didn't want to do it, I just…" Dimitri trails off as we ride back up the driveway bordered by thick greenery. I stare ahead blankly, skimming over everything my eyes take in.

After we had reached the parking lot, Dimitri had scooped me up in his arms. The first few minutes, I had thrashed viciously, propelling my feet towards any point of contact on his body. Besides one breathless kick to the chest, he had remained solid.

The minutes after, I wept horridly. It wasn't a noise that one would like to be in an enclosed space with.

For the remaining period of time that was still presently passing by, I sat silently, ignoring him. Ignoring the car. Ignoring everything, basically. Even despite his apologies. Despite when he had pulled over at a gas station and screamed at me "Walk home, damn you!" I guess he thought better of it, knowing I had my cell phone and whatnot.

Presently, Dimitri pulled the car over to the right side of the gravel path and looked over at me. In the corner of my eye, I saw his eyes, full of sorrow and some unexplained betrayal.

"Mia," He sighed, rubbing his neck with one hand. "I don't mean to upset you. That was not the point of going." He pauses. "But I cannot give you total leniency. Do remember what I told you right after you swerved the steering wheel on the way down?" He asks me softly. I stay silent. "If I disobey, we will both be killed. I can't let that happen."

I yearned desperately to look at him, but after a few minutes of stubborn silence, he sighed and started up the car.

The rest of the path that led back to the manor was quiet, save the crack of gravel spewing up against the car doors. I realized that the sun had almost set.

When the manor came in sight, I held myself against tapping my foot, and, right when the car came to a somewhat slow pace, I hopped out of the car door and bounded for the front door. Thankfully, Dimitri didn't come after me.


	19. Chapter Eighteen :Patched Up:

_Happy New Years, Everyone! I'm excited to be starting the new year, and, hopefully soon, the sequel to this book! This story is coming to a close, if you can't yet tell!_

_Let me remind you of the long journey we've taken with this story: _

_I started this story in 2010 with hopes of making a long, interesting story with an intricate plot. About three quarters of the story finished and posted, I realized that it was __too__ long, the plot line had holes, and I myself had forgotten details of the story when writing, which would have been evident if you had gone through each of the chapters meticulously (i.e. name changes in minor characters that would become recurring later, events not lining up on a timeline, etc.) Anyways, with this knowledge, I decided to edit/re-write this story along the same lines, but with the holes in the plot filled and with minor changes. (That is why Dimitri shows up as Shane sometimes in the previous chapter; he used to carry both names, and since I still remember this, it was hard for me to completely edit that out. I'm really sorry about that!) _

_Anyways, I've told you all before that I've thought about a sequel and possibly even making it a trilogy, but I'd love to hear from you all. I could finish it here, in these last few chapters, or continue their stories for one or two more books (we'll talk about that third book when we get there). I would personally love to continue this story, but I'd love to hear what you all think. Let me know in reviews. _

_To the __Guest__ who anonymously asked me in a review if I could post around New Years': Welcome to 2013! I stayed up late to finish this chapter just because of your request (You're Welcome!)_

_Enjoy!_

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Eighteen_

_**~Violet~**_

Mia came barreling through her bedroom door. I heard the muted thud reverberate through the room as she jumped onto her bed and kicked her shoes off.

"So, I take it that your trip went well then." I say sarcastically, entering through the balcony.

She groans. "He is such a bastard."

"Let the record show he can be," I say teasingly. "But really, Mia, he is a good guy." I say seriously afterwards.

She looks up at me through tired eyes. "I saw Katy." Unconsciously, I tilt my head to the side in confusion.

"My old friend." She says through clenched teeth.

"Oh."

We stay motionless and silent for a moment. If it weren't for the blowing breeze outside that twirled through the open balcony doorway, time would have been stopped.

I lean against her dresser. "Mia, you have to understand-"

"Understand what?" She says angrily. "That Dimitri and Giuseppe are twin bastards, both as horrid as the other? And they have both trapped me here, giving me two wretched options so they can watch me fall apart? They are both sadists, father and son!"

"That he's falling for you!" I shout. Mia instantly closes her mouth. "Don't you see?" I say. "It is so obvious to all of us in the house! Everyone but you and him see it! It's as plain as day that you like, I dunno, are interested in each other!"

She stares at me incredulously, and although she says nothing, her expression is very tacit. It read _"How the hell do you know that?" _

I sigh. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," I tell her. She stays silent, her mouth hanging open. "I've got to go talk to Zair, but I'll be back, okay?"

She nods, her expression dumbstruck. I smile sadly at her before leaving her sitting on her bed, trying to absorb what she had just been told.

_**~Dimitri~**_

After parking the car and handing over Mariella's bags to some maids, I ran deep into the heart of the forest and destroyed everything within a fifteen foot radius.

Although any human would be breathing heavily if they possessed the power to destroy as I had just done, I stayed quiet and breathing evenly out of habit. I didn't really need to breathe, anyways.

I sat down on a fallen tree trunk and tore off a chunk of the outer layer of the tree. Bits and pieces of crusty bark tumbled off the meaty chunk I had torn off as I rubbed my fingers along it softly. Even the lightest touch of my fingers and the bark would crumble into smithereens.

It was infuriating. _She _was infuriating. Of every woman who had come and gone, none had caused such rage, such frustration, such _feeling_ as she had. Just how did Mariella pull it off?

In order to really frustrate me at the least, one had to withstand sarcasm and insults. To actually anger me, one had to really know me _and_ my sore spots. From day one, when I had taken her from the room filled with tanks of blood, she had tickled me in a way that no other person could.

Unspoken oaths rang through my memories. I had sworn to not let anyone make me falter, and yet, with a few mere words, she could disintegrate me to a pile of ash.

So, hell, with her, it was all or nothing. There was no shooting for the moon and if you miss, you'll land among the stars. It was a matter of flying or falling. So why shouldn't I try to fly?

The chunk of bark I'd been holding disintegrated and scattered onto the forest floor, turning into debris. Only a few fragments remained on my skin before I brushed them along my jeans and stood up.

_**~Mia~**_

I was about to go to bed when a knock at my door made me pause mid-stride. I glance at the clock. It blinks 11:03. I knew that it could only be one of two people: Violet or Dimitri.

I open the door a crack to see him standing there. I start to shut it, but his foot stops me from shutting it all the way."Just for a moment," He says, his palms facing towards me and stopping me from saying anything. I roll my eyes in defeat, backing away from the entryway.

"I was about to go to bed." I mumble quietly, sitting cross legged on the bed. He sits down on the edge of the bed, carefully studying his hands before looking up at my face. I don't give him the dignity of seeing my eyes; I stare at the wall behind him. From the balcony, a small, dark gust of wind passes through and sweeps over Dimitri, tangling his dark hair further. Moonlight fell over the drapes and hit angles of his face.

"Mariella, I didn't mean to-" He starts. With those four words, he sets my anger ablaze.

"You didn't _mean _to?" I say, shooting out of bed and standing with an impossible speed. I crept around the bed slowly, circling his back before coming into sight and repeating the cycle. I scoff. "Oh, I get it. It was a _total _and complete accident that you had to speed walk out of the mall and then carry me away, kicking and screaming, all so I couldn't talk to my friend." I glare menacingly into his back. "Thanks for clearing that up, Dimitri. Everything makes _perfect _sense now." A stronger gust of wind blew into the room, caressing both of us.

"No, I mean I didn't mean to upset you-" He starts again.

I roll my eyes with a haughty laugh, spinning back into his line of sight. "You didn't mean to _upset me?_ Well, that certainly didn't work out, now did it?" The wind picked up outside and came puffing through the open balcony door in hufts.

"I know how hard it must have been for you to see-" He tries.

"No, see, I don't think you do," I say. My anger was refueled every time a word came out of his mouth. I stalked forward towards him in lengthy strides, practically dangling my barely contained anger in front of him. I am in front of the bed and behind him; that much closer. "If you understood, you wouldn't keep me here." Face to face with him now. "But, you see, Dimitri, that most certainly is _not _the case." I am so close to him; breathing in his breath as he breathes in mine while I tip his chin up with my finger to look me in the face. His eyes meet mine with what I have never seen before in them: _fear. _

The wind howls outside on my balcony, and now comes streaming through the open door in a steady flow. From the corner of my eye, I see Dimitri's left hand start to move, whether it was to hurt me or cherish me, I didn't know. I moved away from him in a spinning flourish and ended up on the other side of the room, watching him closely. Surprise was written all over those dark features. Small dents crunched into his lower lip, right where his canines would be. Obviously, he had taken his fangs out.

Until this moment, I hadn't realized that the vampiric side of myself had taken over. I was vaguely aware that it was a problem that I couldn't even tell when she was taking over. At the same time I thought this, I felt two small, smooth, sharp bones protrude through my gums. I-she-kept them concealed with her lips.

Dimitri stayed where he was. I raised an eyebrow, teasing him, taunting him. It was so easy. In order to conceal her fangs, which she couldn't put away at the moment, she turned around after flashing Dimitri a smirk. "What?" She says, her voice like fresh silk. "No defense left?" She pauses. "Have I torn the prince down? What a shame." She taps her nails against the wall.

I-she-heard him get up and come against the wall, but not before I was on the bed once again. He was obviously trying to conceal his fuming anger, but he wasn't doing so well. Once again, I turned away, in order to hide the fangs that weren't really mine. They were _hers. _She ran her hand along one of the bedposts. "Trickery is a great asset. Both enemies, or, shall I say, groups in tension, can obtain it." I-she pauses. "It really all depends on how each plays their cards."

With that, I flipped off the bed and landed parallel to Dimitri, who was still against the wall. At that moment, I knew that we had won. Dimitri lunged at us, but before he could do anything, my alternate ego and me were across the room. It was like an intricate dance, with the moonlight shining over us, wind ensconcing our two bodies in a gentle pirouetted shell.

We circled around each other for a few moments before each of us lunged at precisely the same exact moment. His fangs were at my neck, just as mine were at his. "What an ironic Yin and Yang moment, hm?" She says, teasing him just the slightest bit when she spoke by letting her fangs brush his skin.

"Who's who?" He asks gruffly, his fangs grazing my skin. I held back a shudder. A moment later, he shoved me away, but instead of crashing into my dresser, she landed gracefully on my feet.

In a moment of weakness, Dimitri surprised me and I was slamming up against a wall, his hands blocking any way of escape. "Why are you doing this?" He breathes through heavy breaths, although I know he isn't breathing heavily from fighting; it was more from surprise and anger.

I tilt my head. "Why did you do that?" I say softly. He leans in, but, taking the moment, I slip around him and press him up against the wall. He grunts in surprise as his cheek slaps the cold plaster. I lean up onto my tiptoes and whisper "There is always a surprise, isn't there?" I pause. "I think we're done." I say quietly, returning to myself. He obviously feels my strength become weaker but lets me pull away before he moves.

My-her-fangs quickly slip back inside my gums and I suddenly feel really tired. The wind still blows like a young typhoon around us, but I slump into my bed and pull the covers up again and get in a comfortable position on the side of the bed closest to the window.

I didn't see or hear him, but I felt him shift onto the bed and pull the covers on himself also. I felt his gaze on me, but I was turned away from him, facing the window as the wind stung my face.

"I'm sorry." He says quietly. "Truly sorry."

That's all he says. It was nice, having him silent for a while. Finally, I turned towards him to find we were actually close together, despite the size of my bed.

"I'm sorry." He says again, sadness filling his stunning eyes.

His face was so close to mine, and before I knew it, his lips fell on mine, soft. Unwillingly, I twined my hands behind his neck as he pulled my body closer to his.

Unlike the other few times we had kissed, neither he nor I was rough. He simply held me while I held him, until I finally broke away, looking into his eyes. Each onyx eye smiled diamonds at me. They were nearly iridescent, and I was sure he both felt and heard my rapid heartbeat.

"I can't let you go," He whispered. "Not yet."

I kissed him again, despite my rage. "I can't help it," I mumble against his lips. "I loathe you yet I can't stay away from you."

The kiss intensified, but soon, I was so tired, I fell asleep in his arms. The howling wind gave me white noise as Dimitri's arms draped around me.

_**~Mia~**_

I heard them.

They were so _loud. _If I could understand them, it would be like many cheery voices all held in one room, each trying to talk over each other. Why couldn't they just shut up and let me sleep?

Birds. Hundreds of birds were outside my balcony window. Each had a high, twittering chirp that they wanted to boast to the world. And good Lord_, _was it annoying. I had forgotten to close the door last night after fighting (and kissing) Dimitri.

Someone shifted beside me in the bed. I turned over and saw it was him. He grumbled softly for a moment before falling quiet again. I smiled. Turning back to the window, I saw sunlight was abundant on the earth today. It was happy and shiny and, overall, just made the world sparkle with a laughter that filled the ears of every living organism. I was slightly appalled at how cheery I sounded today.

I realized I was lying on an arm when it suddenly pulled me tighter. I squealed (very uncharacteristically) and turned to see Dimitri, smiling as he pulled me closer to him and planted a sweet, nice kiss on my lips. I laughed against him. "Good morning," he says gruffly. "Hi there." I mumbled against his lips.

Goodness, he looked sexy with bedhead hair. I have no idea how I looked, but I imagined I looked like hell. Still, he rolled on top of me and laughed, kissing me harder. I pushed him off lightly after a few minutes, claiming I had to get up and brush my hair. It felt like a nest when I tried to drag my fingers through it.

Of course, he didn't let me go. So I rested in his arms silently, listening to the birds chirp loudly outside. He played with my ear thoughtfully.

"Tired still?" He asks me softly. I nod. I can feel his chuckle shake the bed. He kisses my forehead. "I would love to stay here with you, but I have to go talk to Giuseppe and Zair." I crack an eye open. "They want to have a family meeting." I close my eye and nod. He kisses the corners of my mouth before kissing me on the lips. "But I can come back afterwards… if you would like." I nod. "Alright." He kisses me quickly before reluctantly getting out of the bed. "I'll be back," he says from across the room.

"Mmkay." I tell him. I hear his laugh before the door opening and closing. As soon as the door closes, something in my brain switches on. I had just slept with Dimitri.

I mean, we had _just slept, _but I had kissed him, and shared a bed with him. Did I actually have more than just physical feelings for him?

Outside, the birds continued to chirp.

_**~Dimitri~**_

"This better be good," I mutter under my breath as I take a seat at the table where everyone else was impatiently waiting.

"Does protecting your precious Mariella seem 'good enough' for this?" Giuseppe snaps at me. I perk up immediately. A smirk crosses Giuseppe's face. He's found my soft spot, and we both know it.

"What's the issue, Giuseppe?" Zair asks impatiently, cracking her fingernails against the wooden table in a roll.

Giuseppe eyes the three of us: Zair, Jer, and me carefully. "William has returned."

_**~Mia~**_

Each color curled around the others, making inconsistent shapes that sparked an infinite amount of interest in me as I watched them morph. An intangible peace in state of mind billowed around the area as the original shapes and imaginary colors drifted around me. Each encircled me for a moment before floating away in unconscious fluidness. I felt myself smiling as I watched them dance in the white never-ending dimension my dreams had brought me to. Forming and dissolving in an inconsistent rhythm was the only consistency they had. Here, in this continuum of colors which were adapt at defying gravity, time, and space, peace came pouring down on me like a soothing waterfall. I lapped it up eagerly, never quite being able to convince my eyes to pull away from the rhythm of the somewhat pulsating shapes.

I feel a shift on my right side and am awoken by a warm arm wrapping around my torso. I twist and look into Dimitri's eyes. His lips made contact with my cheek. "Good Morning." He said. Raising one eyebrow, he said, "Again." I smile and pull his face down to mine, so I can kiss him.

I pulled back for a moment. "It's a great morning." I smiled at him. He laughed and kissed me again, a bit more passionately this time. "How was your meeting?" I ask him as he lies down beside me so I can rest my head on his chest.

"Interesting," He says, twirling my hair around his index finger. "Very interesting."

"Would you like to explain further?" I asked him with a smile. He kissed my head. "Not at the moment." He decided. "I'd rather just spend a day with you in respite before we get into the gory details."

"That can be arranged." I murmured, however anxious I was to hear what had happened. He pulls my face up to look at him. "You're wonderful," He says, kissing me between each word. "Just. Wonderful."

I fall on top of him, because using my arms to prop myself up early in the morning is nearly impossible. As he kisses down my neck, I whisper "You have no idea what you're talking about. I'm nothing compared to you."

He growls, stopping in the middle of my neck. "Don't ever think that, Mia. You're amazing, and you know it, and I know it." He continues his path down my neck. I moaned as he got down to my collarbone.

"You turned out perfectly. Simply perfect." He says, running back up the other side of my neck and stopping at my ear. "But I don't know how you'll turn out after this." He whispers dangerously.

"You don't have an easy way of getting rid of me, if that's what you're asking." I stammer, unable to focus on anything but the tingle of his mouth on my skin.

He kisses my earlobe. "I have no intention of 'getting rid of you.' You have no way of shaking me. That's what I'm worried about. I am a horrible influence, Mia. If you were sensible, you would leave. Leave this bed right now and get breakfast and never speak to me again." He kisses down to the corner of my mouth.

"There are a few problems with that scenario." I say before kissing him on the lips. "One, I couldn't leave this bed if I wanted to. Not while you're here." I kiss him again. "Two, I can't walk around looking like this." I was talking about my hair, but Dimitri rolled us over so he was on top. "No, you can't." He says hungrily. "Other men would steal you away from me in a heartbeat." I giggle. "Three, Dimitri," I say more seriously. "If I never speak to you again, won't I die?"

He stops short, pulling away and grabbing my face in a somewhat jerky fashion. "Mariella Fia Clough, I will _not_ let that happen to you. Not through heaven nor hell would it ever happen."

His words scare me, and, for a moment, I realize that includes taking away one of my two options, but after a moment, the desire returns to his eyes and he smothers me with kisses again. I pulled his mouth up to mine and kissed him eagerly, smashing him closer to me, if that was even possible.

After what could have been days or seconds, I murmured against his lips "I need to get dressed." As in, dress into real clothes, not pajamas. He sighed but let me go. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater from my dresser and rushed into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Hopping out of the bathroom with clean teeth, brushed hair and day clothing, Dimitri was out on the balcony. I walked over to him and slid my hand into his. "What should we do today?" I ask him.

He turns and smiles at me. "Let's go outside. I'll take you on a tour of the property." He pauses. "Well, the property that's actually worth seeing." I grin.

Butterflies fill my stomach as if a ripcord were just pulled while we walk out into the hallway and maids see us holding hands. Dimitri seems completely at ease, so it isn't too hard to let myself slip into that natural ease, as if his hand were meant to fit with mine.

We exit through a back door that I hadn't known existed, depositing us into a lush greenhouse filled with exotic and tropical plants. "Zair loves plants." Dimitri explains. I nod. We walk carefully through greenhouse, swiftly dodging large flowerpots and small, soon-to-be planted plants. At the end, Dimitri slid open a large glass door, exhibiting a large courtyard that was surely beautiful in the summer, but as of now, was brittle and withered down.

A myriad of statues was splayed out in the middle of a circular hedge. I could only see the tops of them, due to the height of the hedge. As I looked away, I discovered that the whole courtyard was an actual hedge maze. I felt like I was in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Gleefully, I hopped up and down before being scooped up on Dimitri's shoulders so I could get a better look.

"Shall we?" He asks, bringing me down to the ground in one swift motion. I bob my head vigorously.

"We're going to get lost," I say, smiling at him. "You won't be able to escape me then."

Dimitri chuckled darkly. "If anyone's going to be missing, it will be you." With that, we stumbled hand-in-hand into the maze.

_**~Dimitri~**_

After hacking down the hedges to take unpredictable shortcuts, Mariella and I ended up in a tangle of limbs on the ground, surrounded by greenery. I laughed and looked up into her earnest eyes, plucking a sprig of leaves out of her hair.

"Told you we'd get lost," She said breathlessly.

I rested my fingers lightly on her waist. "Maybe I meant us to." I told her, sobering up. She looked down at me with intensity, and I couldn't help but feel an attraction to this human side of her as well. However…innocent she seemed as a human, I couldn't help but want to protect her from anything. It was endearing to see her large hazel eyes blink slowly, her lips part as she processed her reality, her eyebrows move ever so slightly when she was deep in concentration. Unlike her vampiric side, her human side was vulnerable, innocent, young, jubilant…yet still so conniving and deadly in its own way. Both held qualities for me now, I realized as she lowered her mouth to mine. I cradled her sweetly for a few moments before pulling away and hoisting us both up.

"Fine, you got your wish. Now we're officially lost!" She threw her hands up in the air in a mock exasperation. "What are we supposed to do now?"

I tugged her closer to me by her waist. "Maybe we're stuck out here forever. Maybe we'll have to repopulate this part of the planet, start our own kingdom over our offspring."

I could tell that half of her was nervous beyond belief at the words I had spoken-hell, half of _me_ was surprised by what I had said. However, the other half of her-her vampire half-was smug, gorgeous, flirtatious.

"I know you would like that," She murmured into my ear as she leaned up on tip-toes. "But I think I'd like to visit civilization before we try for that one." I laughed and swung her up onto my back. She gasped in surprise.

"Hold on tightly, then." I told her before speeding off in a completely different way than we had come. In a few minutes' time, we were at the front doors of the mansion. I helped her off of my back with ease before opening the door for her and walking her back to her room.

After swiftly kissing her on the cheek and leaving her to her room, I waiting outside silently. I couldn't help myself; I got instant gratification the moment I heard her collapse onto her bed with a large, giddy sigh. She lied there for a few moments before quickly changing; I could hear the rustle of her clothes against her skin, and I briefly wished I were the one helping her. I heard the door to her bedroom open, and I swiftly hid behind the nearest corner.

Mia jogged to the gym and began stretching and warming up before throwing herself over the vault over and over again. Had I not had my ability to see fast moving objects at a conceivable speed, I would have feared for her life. There were many times when she was rotating so quickly I truly believed she would land on her neck and severe her spinal cord. The thought sent tremors of unkempt, ragged rage rippling through my body. I quickly shook them away as I watched her outside of the gym and marveled at how transfixed I was by all aspects of this woman. She was endearing in so many ways, and seeing her flip and rocket through the air, I realized that there would be no other woman that I wanted to be by my side as a ruler, a queen, and, ultimately, my wife.

_**~Mia~**_

We began doing everything together. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next few days were courtesy of him in the ballroom or my room. Morning activities included teaching him pieces of gymnastics, which he caught onto _very _quickly, swimming, and him showing me around all of the grounds, many of which I hadn't even known had existed.

One morning, Dimitri took me out to the stables. I was so pleasantly surprised, I made him promise that he would start teaching me how to ride. I came back to the stables with him the next day to see a new horse there.

She was about sixteen hands tall, dappled with black spots all over her gray coat. She looked like cookies and cream ice cream. Her head was slender and long, and her legs seemed to stretch on for feet. I stuck my palm out to her slowly. She snuffed gently and blew, covering my hand in sticky spit. I laughed and rubbed her nose. She shied away at first, but after another few moments of examining me, and then my hand, she bent her head down and blew gently through her nose.

"She's beautiful," I murmured to Dimitri. "What's her name?"

"She doesn't have one yet." Dimitri told me.

"How does she not have a name? Where's her owner?"

"Right here." He said, looking at me pointedly.

I stared at him, unable to fathom what he was implying. Finally, I stuttered "You don't really mean-"

"She's yours, Mia." He smiled that dazzling smile, and I couldn't help but melt a little bit when he looked at me. Pulling my hand away from her nose and wiping the spit on my jeans, I jumped on him in a crazy person hug.

"She's wonderful," I whisper, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He chuckles and sets me down.

"We can start riding today, if you would like." He told me. I nod earnestly. Dimitri walks me back to the mansion, telling me that I had to change into riding apparel before we started training. "I had Elizabeth order some clothing for you; it should be hanging in your closet. I'll help you find it and then leave you to change."

He showed me the place in the closet, which had been filled with riding attire, and then helped me pick out an outfit. "Just come to my room when you're ready. I trust you still remember where it is?" He raised an eyebrow, obviously thinking about when we had very nearly jumped each other's bones. I gulped and nodded. He quirked a side of his mouth up in satisfaction before leaving, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Minutes later, I was headed up the stairs towards his room. I picked my way up there slowly, reminiscing on the last time I had ascended the stairs and marched into his room. It had ended in a breathless and sweaty way that, while I'm sure he would be happy to reenact, I wasn't too sure about it. If I only thought about the way his hands felt on my skin, circling my waist, his lips on my neck, teasing my earlobe…

_No. _I couldn't do this right now. I shook myself mentally and physically before taking my quivering hand and tapping it against his door. A few moments later, Dimitri opened it. He was leaning casually against the wall as the door swung out behind him. I peered around his body into the room, to the spaciousness of it all, to the bed…

"Are you ready?" He asks, and as I look up to meet his gaze, I see smugness in his eyes.

Part of me wanted to blush, duck down, and scurry away; another part of me wanted to play with him. I tried to force the latter part deep down inside of me, down to my toes where it couldn't resurface for a long time. Sadly, however, she bubbled back up and expanded two times larger than before, to the point where I had no choice but to let her take over.

"The better question is," I said, taking two steps closer so I could put my hands on his chest. "Are _you _ready?" Dimitri looked down at me with unbridled longing.

"I've been ready for a long time." He murmured as he brought his mouth down to my neck, kissing little spirals up, down, and around. I smiled and gave him a hard shove, pushing him back into the room and away from me. Backing him up to the bed until his knees buckled, I went up on tiptoe and hovered over him.

I trailed kisses from his jaw slowly up to the corner of his mouth. "You've waited for a long time…you can wait a little while longer." With that, I pushed myself away from him. The vampire side of me soothed, she let Mia resurface, who was now blushing furiously. Dimitri, although still somewhat winded from the situation, stood up and clasped my hand in his own.

"I'll wait for a little longer." He said, toying with my fingers. "But not much." Grinning impishly at me, he strode out of his room and dragged me down to the stables.

_**~Mia~**_

A good seven hours later, I was completely exhausted. Time had flown by, especially while working with my mare _and _Dimitri. Around two o' clock that afternoon, the sun had beat down so unusually hard that the horses were sweating without any physical exertion. I tried to keep the sweat off of my face in an effort to look prettier, but when Dimitri had noticed my futile efforts, he came up to me, stroked my cheeks with his callused thumbs, and kissed my hairline and the beads of sweat away.

"A woman who works tirelessly is more attractive than a woman who sits worrying about her appearance." He told me. I was more in awe of him in that moment than I had ever been…of course, until he took his shirt off minutes later.

He had been sweating under the blaze of the sun as well, although definitely not as much. I watched his arm muscles stretch and lengthen as he pulled the shirt over his head, and time really seemed to slow. I didn't realize I had been staring at his chiseled chest and stomach until my hand was on it. Dimitri had grabbed my wrist and placed it on his abs and said to me "Is this better?" In a furiously smug voice.

I blushed profusely and yanked my hand away as he laughed loudly. "It's too hot to be wearing a shirt," He explained when his laughter died down some. He eyed my torso wearily. "Perhaps you would like to follow in suit?" He grinned devilishly.

"Wouldn't you like that," I mused, smirking. He yanked me forward, lightly resting his hands on my hips.

"I don't think you realize just how much I would," He whispered into my ear before nibbling lightly on my earlobe. I shivered, yet was unable to stop my arms from wrapping around his neck.

A few overheated minutes later, we had picked up on our equine lesson. The day continued on like that: long intervals of work peppered with short bursts of closeness.

I hadn't gotten on my mare until the last two hours of the day, and, seeing as I had yet to name her, Dimitri hadn't pushed me too hard on her. He claimed that naming her would give the two of us a connection; one that I needed before I was to truly ride.

There was so much more to know about horses than I had initially expected. As I sat in the bath tub, soaking my sore muscles, I reflected back on everything.

"Horses eat more than you would think," Dimitri had told me. "Two to three flakes of hay in the morning and evening for a _fit _horse will suffice. If the horse is underweight, add grain into his diet, and if that isn't helping him increase weight quickly, supplements are added into the grain. Flakes of hay can be increased as well." He showed me roughly how much one flake of hay was: it looked like a rectangular slab-like plate.

"There are different kinds of hay," He continued. "Grass and alfalfa. There are benefits to each. I myself prefer alfalfa." He led me over to a room piled high with stacks of hay. It stirred the memory of the tale of Rumplestiltsken.

Across from the hay room was what Dimitri called the Tack Room. "We hold all…equipment…here." He mused, showing me an assortment of metal tools, long strands of cloth, brushes, curry combs, saddles, pads, and various other things. "Everything from grooming to riding equipment is in here." He told me, then picked up each item and explained its name and purpose to me, which probably took a good hour period, since I couldn't keep track of all of the different things.

Lastly, he showed me how to tack up my mare. "I'm going to teach you how to ride English first," He murmured with his lips pressed against the top of my ear. It was one of those moments where our close proximity led to more than just teaching. "It's so much more elegant and sophisticated, and if you're ever going to be riding in front of people alongside me, I would like to be able to showcase just what an excellent rider I have claimed as my partner." I sucked in a surprised breath through my teeth; the air chilled my gums.

Dimitri pressed a few kisses around my ear and temple before unwrapping me from his arms and walking over to the large black horse he had brought out.

Swinging a soft but thick pad onto the horses back and slightly up on its withers (the word that I was proud to have learned today during my crash course of equine anatomy 101), Dimitri whistled a tune I had never heard before. He seemed happy and light hearted, and my own heart swelled at seeing his jubilance.

When the saddle without the horn was up on top of the cotton pad, Dimitri pulled a wide piece of fabric underneath the horses belly and began to slowly make an intricate, indiscernible knot through a metal ring. When he asked me if I had followed, I swallowed thickly and ashamedly shook my head. Sensing my shame, he tilted my chin up to look him in the eyes.

"I learned this when I was five years old. When I didn't get it right the first time, Giuseppe riled up the horse, let it loose in the arena with me, and I was trampled." I looked at his pain-stricken eyes. "It took me nine more tries to succeed in making the knot." He pressed his lips to the spot just above my nose. "I would be proud if you got it in twenty."

Understanding that the knot was a complicated one to understand properly, the weight in my stomach lifted a little bit. "So, I guess that means I have twenty tries until the horses are unleashed on me in the arena, huh?"

Dimitri looked at me with a seriousness that I had never seen in him before and said "I would never unleash that kind of pain on you, Mia. I would honestly rather die a thousand deaths being trampled by wild horses than expose you to that once."

I scoffed, thinking he was exaggerating, but when I looked back into his eyes, I saw the cold sincerity that had taken root in them. I had realized with a jolt that he had most likely been subject to much worse forms of torture, given that he had grown up as a prince of a vampire dynasty, with Giuseppe as his father nonetheless.

I pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek, so moved by his honesty and goodness in that moment that I never wanted to let him go. He had gently pried my fingers from around his torso, murmuring gently that we needed to continue our lesson. I agreed and nodded my head, promising myself that I wouldn't cry for his past sufferings, especially in front of him.

We had ended the day with just sitting on my mare at the walk, learning the feel of her slowest movements, letting the feel of the reigns sink into my hands and try to become muscle memory, and learning the barest of commands. Dimitri had walked me back to my room and pressed a kiss on my knuckles and then in my palm before leaving me to my own agenda.

I sighed and looked at my toes. Their undersides were as wrinkly as raisins, so, with a sigh, I unstopped the plug to the bath and stepped out, wrapping myself in a fluffy purple robe and curling my toes into the soft rug beneath my feet. It was such a luxurious life here, if I could forget the fact that I was being held against my will.

Still, even with that thought, I couldn't convince myself that it was all that bad here. It wasn't actually bad at all; I had Violet as a friend, maids, and wonderful, over-the-top living quarters, a gorgeous man-vampire-who seemed to be just as taken by me as I was by him, and my very own mare. It occurred to me that in a twelve days, I would have a life-changing decision to make.

As I pulled a pajama top over my head, I realized that my previous resolution to choose death was not as strong as it had been before. It would now hurt to take my life, and cut the ties to all of the people here. I mulled over this fact as I pulled the sheets and the duvet up to my neck, and, as I drifted off into sleep, it felt as though someone was whispering deep into my ear _"don't leave."_

_Author's Ending Note On This Chapter: _

_~Please don't forget to let me know what you think about a sequel, just in case you were too lazy to read my long Author's Note placed at the beginning of this chapter! It means a lot!_

_***Ace***_


	20. Chapter Nineteen :Claws:

_Welcome to 2013!_

_Many reviewers have been asking me whether that last chapter was the end of the story…well, obviously not. But to clear up any confusion, let me tell you this. It will be __blatantly__ clear when this story ends. By blatant, I mean, there __will__ be a cliffhanger because there __WILL__ be a sequel, the chapter will be titled something which indicates the end, and, at the end of the chapter, I'll say something like "tune into *insert story number two *". _

_ Hopefully, you'll all tune into the sequel. I'll let you know the name of the sequel at the end of Stolen Fangs, so you can all find it easily. It's going to be great, and oh-my-goodness, I can't wait to write the ending of this story. The cliffhanger I have in mind is sooooo juicy, you're all going to be like "What just happened?!" It's going to be great. _

_Anyways, enjoy this next chapter. Please review, and sorry this took a little while!_

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Nineteen_

_**~Mia~**_

__A sound of stiff, itchy fabric scratching against a metal rail woke me up abruptly. I groaned and rubbed crust out of my eyes to see Violet smiling almost as brightly as the sun burning down through the window she was standing in front of. I grimaced and looked away; it was too much light to handle.

"Oh, too much light?" Violet's smiles grew. "Your vampire side is kicking in some more!"

I threw a pillow at her. "No, it's just too much to handle _right_ when I wake up." I paused, trying to flush the mental morning fog from my brain. "And that doesn't make any sense. Dimitri has gone out in the sun with me many times."

Violet frowned at my logical thinking. "He wears contacts every time he goes outside to dilute the UV rays on his eyes, but it's still uncomfortable for him." She looked at my confused expression. "It's not true that vampires burn in daylight, but it's definitely uncomfortable for them. Their eyes are heightened so much, it's hard to withstand that much light. The contact acts as a film: it covers without obscuring too much."

I nodded my head, slightly impressed with myself that I could follow that whole speech, moments after waking up. Propping myself up onto my elbows, I squinted up at Violet through sleepy eyelids. "What's the occasion?" I mumbled, running a hand through my scraggly hair.

Violet shrugged. "I just wanted to have breakfast with you." I stared at her stonily, reluctant to check the clock on the nightstand.

"I'm going to look at the clock in a few seconds," I told her, indicating towards it with my head. "And if it reads a time one minute earlier than nine o' clock, I'm going to kill you. Literally." Her eyes momentarily lit up with the fear I had seen in them when my vampire side had taken over, and I'd punished her.

I risked a glance to the clock. It blinked eight-thirty. I growled unhappily, but decided not to scare her anymore and suck it up. It would've taken me a half an hour to fall back asleep anyways. "You're lucky. I'm feeling generous today." I told her with only a slight twinge of seriousness. Violet smiled, all of the fear dissipating from her expression.

"Get dressed. I'll meet you down in the kitchen." She sung happily over her shoulder before skipping out of my room-literally skipping-and swinging my bedroom door shut.

I groaned unhappily and pulled my weary body up to a sitting position. My feet hit the cold wooden floor, and chills rushed up my spinal cord in a stacking array that spread through my whole body. I slipped over to the closet and pulled on some yellow fuzzy socks.

I didn't actually bother to do anything with my face other than splash some cold water on it. I half-heartedly yanked a brush through my hair before twirling it up into a bun on my head. Slippers on my feet, a nice, baggy sweater over my pajama top like a big, comfortable hug, and sweats three times my size hanging onto my hips, I shuffled out of my room, feeling so comfortable I couldn't comprehend caring about the fact that I looked like the epitome of what had to be hell.

The smell of waffles wafted out to me long before I got to the kitchen. I was surprised at how far away I had smelled the scent; it hit me after only a few steps outside of my room. I realized that had to be one of the senses of my vampiric side.

Cynthia was picking a waffle out of the waffle maker when I walked into the kitchen. Violet already had a waffle drenched in raspberry syrup sitting on her plate.

I hadn't realized until that moment that I was ravenous. With a speed that was not my own, I was across the kitchen by Cynthia's side, yanking the plate with the hot waffle out of her hands.

An earsplitting crack resonated through the room. Cynthia looked at me in shock; the piece of waffle Violet had been lifting to her mouth dropped off her fork and into the puddle of raspberry syrup with a sloshy plop. I looked down at my hand, only to find there was nothing there. I had gripped the plate so tightly, it had splintered into porcelain shards now scattered around the tile floor. My waffle sat among the ruins.

Violet started to walk over to me to examine my hand, but I shooed her away. It was dangerous to walk on the little fragments of porcelain. She had stopped mid-stride and was now looking at my hand with awe.

"What?" I asked irritably, flattening my palm and examining it for myself. There wasn't even a little nick. It was completely smooth; the impossible part of it all was that it held the same sheen as the porcelain plate it had just broken.

I heard Dimitri come in and an impossible speed, then stop with the same abruptness that he had been running with. All eyes were trained on me. "Why is everyone staring at me? I know a broke a plate; I'm sorry! It's not a big deal." However, I _knew_ why everyone was staring at me; I was sure that I would have been staring at me if I were in their positions, because, somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that if my hand looked like the porcelain, the rest of me had to as well.

Violet inched her way over towards Dimitri, and I heard her whisper "So is that what she'll look like when she's a vampire?"

Dimitri stayed frozen for a moment before giving the slightest nod of his head. "This is only the beginning of what she will look like."

"I'm standing a fucking five feet away; I can hear you!" I shouted. My voice held the same sheen that my skin did; it was sparkly, light, and enchanting. I squeaked and clamped my hand to my mouth.

Dimitri cleared his throat. "Your vampiric side is starting to show physically as well, Mia. You don't look fully vampire right now, nor do you look fully human."

"It's very…interesting." Cynthia interjected, looking down at her hands.

"It's enchanting," Dimitri breathed. He crossed the kitchen floor in such a small period of time, it seemed like time hadn't even moved at all. He grabbed my waist lightly. "You'd make any man breathless." He murmured before giving me the slightest brush of a kiss on the cheek before walking out of the kitchen with a last glance over his shoulder. Violet and I looked at each other for a few silent moments before I sighed and began cleaning up the shards of the porcelain plate.

"I'll make you another waffle, dear." Cynthia told me, obviously trying her hardest to recover from the recent incident. I smiled at her gratefully as I swept up the remaining pieces.

I took at seat at the counter next to Violet, who could not help but stare at me. "If everyone is going to stare at me like that until this part of me goes back into her little cubby hole, I need a mirror." I started to stand back up, but Violet yanked on my arm, shouting "No!"

I stared at her like was a lunatic. "Dimitri doesn't want you to see yourself until you're a full vampire. It'll be more exciting that way."

I gave Violet a pointed look. "_Dimitri _doesn't get to dictate what I do or don't do. And _until?_"

Violet looked at me, her eyes practically crying sarcasm. "Please, Mia, give it up. You're not fooling any of us anymore." She paused, tapping a nail against her chin. "And please just humor him on this one. You never humor him; give him this."

I sighed in exasperation and reclaimed my seat. "Fine! I'll let him get what he wants!" Violet smiled and patted my hand as Cynthia brought over another steaming waffle on a paper plate. She smiled at me.

"Just in case," She told me, patting my arm. I couldn't help feeling like a nuisance.

_**~Jeanelle~**_

It always hurt when Katy brought up Mia, but she kept doing it. Katy was not like me at all in this manner. While I tried to forgive and forget, she had to talk it all out, rehash, rehash, and rehash until there was nothing left but little particles of the true problem.

"I'm just saying, if she were to come back _at this very second_, what would you do?" Katy licked her forefinger and flipped the page of her magazine loudly, casting me a sideways glance.

"We've been over this before. I don't know."

"I bet she eloped. David probably didn't even know she was seeing someone else, but let's be real here. It _is _Mia we're talking about, and when does she not have a boy on her arm?"

"Mmhmm," I murmured, determined to tune Katy out. If I listened to her, I would grow upset, and then Katy would be upset that _I_ was in a bad mood.

"Could you seriously be any less concerned about Mia? I mean, it's out best friend we're talking about here."

I looked at Katy stonily. "Are you fucking serious?" I asked her blatantly. She looked at me, a challenge in her eyes. "I've asked you so many times not to talk about her with me, because it just regurgitates everything we've already gone through. Do you know the survival rates of an abduction?" I look at her, already knowing the answer. No, she didn't know. She still had hope, and I was practically about to crush it. "It goes down radically in the first twenty-four hours, then halves again over 48 hours. A victim is lucky to live a week." I paused. "But I'm sure you know this part, Katy. How long has Mia been gone now? Nearly three months?" I look at her pointedly. "Yeah, I'm sure she's just on the run with a boy. That makes_ perfect _sense."

Katy stared at me for a few moments longer before storming out of my house. I heard the front door slam, followed by the rumbling of her old Volkswagen bug waking up. I heard a slight screech of her tires against the ground as I watched her speed away from my house…all because I'd lost my temper.

_**~Mia~**_

I was convinced something was up when Violet wouldn't let me go back to my room after breakfast.

"First you wake me up at 8:30 in the morning, now you won't let me go back to my room?" I stared at her, incredulous.

"We need to talk," She told me earnestly.

"Are we breaking up?" I ask sarcastically, holding one palm over my heart and the other against my forehead. "Oh, woe is me! I-I just don't know what I'm going to do without you. You're my soulmate! Half of me shall be gone, existent no more!" I mock crumple to the ground.

Violet stared at me cryptically for too long. "What?" I asked, irritated. "Have you never heard of sarcasm? I'm very fluent in it." She yanked on my rigid wrist and caught me so much by surprise that I had no choice but to follow after her. When she pulled me into Giuseppe's study, butterflies tickled the lining of my stomach. I looked around for him cautiously, but he wasn't hiding in any corners or hanging from the rafters upside down, asleep, like a bat. That almost put me more on edge; not knowing where he was.

"What's this about?" I asked in all seriousness. Violet took a seat, inclining me to take the one opposite her. She folded her hands in her lap, twiddling her fingers and running her right hand over the engagement ring on her left finger.

"We needed to talk today about something, but I wasn't really sure how I was going to bring it up." She took a breath. "_Surprisingly _enough, you brought it up yourself." I was not blind to the way she emphasized "surprisingly," but I let it go.

"Sarcasm?" I asked her with no inkling of using it in this moment. "Violet, if Giuseppe or Dimitri is freaking out about that, then they can go and screw themselves. Seriously, it's not a big deal; just a way of speaking. And, honestly? Dimitri cannot be criticizing me; he uses sarcasm on an hourly basis!"

"Soulmates." Violet said quietly. So quietly, I had to strain my ears, because she'd said it right as I was finishing my rant.

"Excuse me?"

"The prospect has been around for a long time. As far back as the philosopher Plato's works, where he and Aristophanes claimed that humans originally had four arms, legs, and a head that consisted of two faces. It was stated that there were three different genders: male, female, and androgynous. Each gender was descended from a different planet. Males corresponded with the sun, females with the earth, and androgynous with the moon. The power of these human beings was threatening to the gods. To maintain their power, Zeus decided to split the beings in half to weaken their power and their pride. This was a favorable solution, because it literally doubled the amount of worshippers the gods had. The beings were cursed to walk the earth in search of their other half, and, until they found them, would be unable to rest."

I looked at her in utter astonishment. I had only used the word in reference to my previous sarcasm. Apparently, I had opened up a whole window for discussion.

Violet risked a look at my face, paused, and then quickly continued. "The Jewish concept of 'Bashert,' which literally means 'destiny,' states that every human has a predestined spouse." She let out a rushed breath. "There are so many more concepts, too, like Theosophy, astrological matches, twin souls…it goes on and on."

"There's no denying, however, that, whenever any couple is bold enough to call themselves soul mates, they are deeply, madly, undeniably in love." A shadow of a smile ripples across her face. "It's a pretty radical statement, to say you're fused back together with your other half, that you've found the one you're meant to be with."

"It's absurd." I interrupted her, unexplainably angered by the subject. She looked up in surprise. "To say that there is only one person who can truly complete you in this universe is ludicrous. So many people lose a spouse and remarry, and are just as happy as before. There are so many different ways you can love someone romantically, that who is to say that one is more favorable, better, _truer_, than the others?"

Violet shot me a look of sympathy, misunderstanding what I was saying. I turned my head slightly away from her, thinking about David, my boyfriend, and how many times I had cheated on him in the past three months…

And with Dimitri nonetheless: My captor, my savior, the object of my hate and the object of my passion. How could I feel so much for one man?

"The vampire community, as a whole, doesn't believe in particularly any one of these ideas," Violet continued. "However, there have been instances where the general idea of soulmates itself hasn't seemed so far-fetched. Some people are inexplicably drawn together, and this pull is heightened in vampires."

"Why?" I ask, unable to stop myself. Violet shrugged.

"No idea. Maybe it's the overall superiority of senses that are acquired with becoming a vampire." I shot her a look. "Not that the vampire race is superior to humans. Only their senses are superior."

I nodded, understanding what she was saying.

"Maybe it's the fact that a vampire is undead, and the mere fact that a soul can still be within an undead body is something nature isn't fully able to comprehend yet. I don't know; no one really knows."

Violet fidgeted in her chair, sending out a blaring signal that she was insanely uncomfortable. "It's recently come to attention that such a bond has been witnessed recently."

I heard what she was saying, and was immediately overjoyed. "That's wonderful news, Violet!" She looked up, astonished.

"You think so?" She asked, leaning forward, elbows on knees, eyebrows knitted into the center of her head.

"You and Jer are electric, even on an astrological level. That's beautiful." I told her truthfully. Even if I didn't believe in soul mates, I could still be just as happy for her. She had found true love.

I saw the smallest eye roll from her before she leaned back in her chair, no longer excited. "No, not Jer and me. Although he is wonderful for me in every way."

I could feel my eyebrows crinkle together and my lips purse involuntarily in question. "So then, who do you-mean-?"

I answered my own question. It had been blaringly obvious. Why would Violet pull me away so seriously, just to tell me she felt this astonishing connection with Jer? I had been blinding myself from the moment I had stepped into the room.

"Dimitri-and…me?" No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to put our names together in a fluid string of words within the context.

Violet nodded, a faint smirk on her lips. It was weird seeing that expression on her. It was almost as if she were smug about something, as if she had won a bet that had initially seemed so improbable, no one could help but be astonished at her victory.

"No." I told her firmly, unconsciously curling my fingernails into my legs. "That's impossible. He's impossible."

Violet gently lifted up one of my hands by a wrist, and I felt five streams of pain penetrate my thigh. I had actually clawed my way into my skin, and five long, tubular holes burrowed into the muscle of my thigh. I was bleeding profusely.

I looked at my hand in wonder. Long, feline nails protruded from my nail beds. They were glistening in blood. I quickly pulled my other hand out of my thigh and stared at my two mutated hands. How had those _nails _come in?

It was then that I really noticed the pain. And then the world shifted axes and went blurry black.

_**~Dimitri~**_

"I just don't see what we can do about William," Jer sighed. The flash of that hideous mop of most literally bleach blonde hair flickered through my mind, and the only time he had ever met Mariella. It was a short exchange indeed, but any exchange with William could be lethal.

"Should we inform her?" Zair asked anxiously.

"No." Replied both Giuseppe and myself simultaneously. "She has enough to mull over at this particular moment in time." Giuseppe told Zair. Despite this answer, I felt her suspicious looks piercing me in never ending waves.

"Let's gather more information," I told them all, standing and consequently pushing my chair away from the table. "We can come to a more accurate conclusion with more information."

"The trade-off you seem to be unaware of is time, Dimitri." Jer told me, giving me a stern look.

"I am fully aware of the exchange I am making. I have weighed both sides and find it more…agreeable….to continue in this manner."

"I believe this is a big risk we're taking," Zair told me, flippantly knocking a lock of hair over her shoulder.

"Anything concerning William is a risk," I replied, trying to contain my annoyance with the whole audience. "There is nothing to reverse time and unacquaintance him with Mariella. This problem could only be forged through craftily.

"We'll keep researching and listening to word." Giuseppe said, turning towards me. I nod my head in thankful acknowledgement before distractedly giving my Mother a kiss on the cheek and exiting the room, my thoughts running a rampant war in my mind.

_**~Mia~**_

I never actually fell asleep, which was cruelty, because not only could I not move from shock of the pain, but I could acutely _feel _the pain radiating from my leg. It shot electrical pulses down to my toes, up through my waist, into my arms; but the most painful part of all was when it rocketed at impossible speeds through my hips. It felt like a jolt of lightning had been infused into the tires of a semi-truck, which hit me in quick, jagged moves.

I heard myself gasp, which really brought me out of my numbness, because it was embarrassing; it sounded more like a pleasure moan than anything else. I tried to stifle it, but it wouldn't stop. I heard a giggle that sounded suspiciously like Jade.

"Oh, hush up, you. It's not like she can help it in her current state." A smooth, southern voice twangs out scolding to who I am nearly certain was Jade.

"It's just so _funny!_" Jade giggled again as I let out another gasp/moan. A muted "thwack" reverberated around the room, and I would have smirked if I could have; it was obviously the Southerner smacking Jade, and I would have given anything at that moment to see it.

A few painstaking gasp/moans later, I let out a rattling cough before peeling my open. I was on a medical bed, complete with the side rails that reminded me of bowling bumpers. To my left, there were a dozen other beds just like mine in a neat order, flip-flopping between each wall so as to make more room. On the right, a door with a small rectangular window in it let me glimpse out into one of the many hallways of the mansion I was staying in. Against the wall, shelves upon shelves of medical supplies were stacked up. Gauze, Q-tips, plastic wax-covered cups, tweezers, needles, surgical thread, and prescription bottles and covered the top surfaces of the shelves, and I took inventory of everything there as quickly as I could.

Jade was sitting on a rolling stool, bouncing her left knee up and down anxiously. Next to her, a sparkling auburn haired woman with a soft jawline regarded me kindly.

"You gave yourself quite the wound in your thigh," She told me in that lilting southern accent from earlier. "I'm Ella; pleased to meet'cha."

I squinted at her carefully, trying to keep the swimming world in focus. "I haven't met you before."

Ella's laugh sounded like stars shooting across the galaxy. "That's because you've never had to. I'm the head physician here."

I noted that she wasn't a vampire, but she well could have been. She was beautiful enough. I regarded her for a few more moments before blurting "My head is full of cotton" unconsciously.

Jade smirked. "We've drugged you up just a _little bit._ It should take away some of the pain while you're healing."

"What'd I do?" I slurred, surprised at how hard it had just gotten to speak. Even through my drug-induced haziness, I noticed Ella gave Jade a sideways glance.

"Somehow, you sunk your nails into your thigh. Pretty deep, too. I'm only optimistic of your full recovery because of your half-vampire genes. You knocked out a few good strands of nerves as well." Ella told me, assuming a clinically, rationally detached tone.

"But I cut my nails last week!" I tried to shout, but it came out as a mumble. "I didn't think they grew that quickly."

Jade patted my hand. "We'll figure it out later, Mia. Right now, you just need to rest."

"Your muscles should be healed by this evening, but your nerves won't be stable and functioning properly until early tomorrow afternoon." Ella told me, clicking closed a pen and perching it on her ear.

"I've never healed this quickly," I told them both. My speech might have been funny, and my brain foggy, but I could remember this for a fact.

"Dimitri might have helped us speed the process along," Jade told me in a somewhat reserved manner. "He gave you some of his blood to help heal you faster. We're not really sure why it works with you, but it does."

I try to say more, to ask why Dimitri would have done that, why Jade wasn't with Alea, where Violet was, where Dimitri was. However, before I could, my eyes shut of their own accord, and I was out cold.

_**~Dimitri~**_

I visited Mariella throughout the day, but I seemed to catch her only when she was asleep. An emergency meeting of the family was called to discuss this previously unknown ability Mia possessed, yet none of us could even comprehend what it was. No other vampire had it, so, by the end of the meeting, we chalked it off to her hybrid genetics.

It wasn't until in the early hours of the morning did I finally catch Mariella awake. I had been sitting at her bed for half an hour when she stirred, her eyes fluttering. She let out a little squeal and stretched her arms above her head gingerly.

"Good morning." I told her, unable to stop a faint grin from coming on my face.

She blinked a few times before smiling at me wearily. "Morning. I haven't seen you all day."

I laughed. It sounded more like a grumble than anything. "I've been in and out all day, but every time I've been in, you've been fast asleep."

She pondered this briefly. "I have been sleeping a lot today." I nodded in agreement. "So…" She started hesitantly. "I heard you helped speed up my recovery."

So they had told her about that. "Indeed."

"What exactly did you do?" She asked quietly. "How does it work?"

I looked at her, quickly analyzing the situation. I believed she had the stomach for it. "I fed you some of my blood." I watched her face change from anger, to shock, to a surprised complacency. "None of us are entirely certain how it works. It usually only works within families of vampires."

She processed this some more. "That seems very…intimate." She settled on the last word apprehensively.

"Blood sharing is intimate. It is only ever done when a family member is wounded or during an intimate moment."

Mia's face reddened at the last part. "I don't remember it," She murmured truthfully. It was too bad, really. Blood sharing between vampires was pleasurable.

"Hopefully you'll allow yourself to have another chance with blood sharing in a…different situation…someday." I told her.

She looked at me, astonishment open on her face for an instant before she valiantly tried to conceal it. I inwardly smirked at how easy it was to make her squirm.

"Maybe someday," She agreed vaguely. We sat there for a few minutes in silence, each pondering the elephant which had somehow deftly entered the room; the impending decision she would have to make in just under two weeks.

"Tomorrow, I think we should go out and ride some more." I told her, looking away from the vacant beds I had been staring at. "If you are feeling up to it, that is." I added on.

Her face lit up. "That sounds great. I have a name for my mare, you know."

"It's about time," I said, teasing her lightly.

She made a face. "Ringivanimento."

"Italian for rejuvenation." I nodded. "It's a wonderful show name, as well as a presentation name. It will make a lasting impression whenever you go anywhere with her."

Mia scoffed quietly. "Like I'll ever have enough time to get good enough to show her, or go anywhere with her."

"You can easily get yourself that time, Mariella." I scooted closer to her bed in the rolling stool. "We could go anywhere, everywhere. We would ride together. It's a more respected way to travel shorter distances anyways. We would visit our people together; they would all be awestruck at how wonderful a rider I had by my side."

Her face turned into one of sorrow; I saw the reality of her time left as a hybrid hit her. In eleven days, she would die, either to be reborn, or permanently leave the world.

"What happens? During the transformation, I mean. How would I become one of you?"

All of us had collectively avoided this question since she had come to the mansion. I was surprised it took her this long to ask it. Deciding that the best route to this explanation would be to achieve frankness, I began.

"The standard procedure for transformation of a human is fairly straightforward. There is really only one difficult part. If the human is in perfect health, that is, not losing blood or injured, seventy to seventy-five percent of the human's blood is drained, at which point the vampire will inject some of their venom into the human's circulatory system. The human is then killed, and the venom will spread through the body, first through the circulatory system, soon followed by the tissue and bones of the rest of the body."

Mia shuddered. "What's the hard part in all of that?"

"Draining the correct amount of blood." I told her without missing a beat.

"How does the venom get to the rest of the body outside of the circulatory system? Does it attach onto blood cells and hitch a ride or something?" She teased. I wish that was the answer, because I instantly knew she wasn't going to like the truth.

"As the venom spreads through the circulatory system, it coats the inner lining of the blood vessels. Somehow, it is able to detect when it has successfully spread through all of the vessels. At that point, it dissolves the vessels and seeps into the rest of the body. The venom does this with every structure. Apparently, the venom retains DNA, because as the new vampiric body is rebuilt, the venom replicates the information into vampiric form, rather than human form."

"So, it's somewhat like mitosis and meiosis." She mulled it over.

I nodded. "Somewhat."

"It's a beautiful process, really." She said, completely surprising me. "You know, if you can put aside the level of disturbing it reaches."

I laughed. "I agree completely. It is rather disturbing yet beautiful."

Mia's face suddenly became horror-struck. "What about your brain?"

"That is an interesting question." I told her while mentally kicking myself for forgetting this. "This seems to be the one body part which the venom does not completely consume. Rather, it seeps into the brain and coats it, but is either unable or is programmed not to dissolve it. Your brain is surely affected, but it is not recreated." Mia let out a whooshing breath in relief.

"That's the normal procedure for a full-fledged _human_, however." I continued. Her face is horror-struck once again. "For hybrids, myths and legends have said that it is slightly different to change one of your kind." Mia shot me a look as if to say "Get on with it!"

"The only step that seems to be different is the blood draining."

She interrupted me. "Of course, the most difficult step." I nodded sympathetically.

"Instead of seventy-five percent, it is between ninety to ninety-four percent. We're not really sure why this is, but Giuseppe has been looking into it."

She reflected on this more before asking in a timid voice "So, say I did choose to become a vampire-" I flashed her a smile. This long inquiry of hers meant that she was seriously considering that option, and this realization overjoyed me so much I couldn't help the smile, even though it was at a truly inadequate time. "How would you kill me?"

I stopped smiling. I hadn't expected that question. She looked at me with earnest hazel eyes, and, however much I didn't want to answer the question, I knew I had to. Damn those eyes.

"Before I really got to know you, I had planned on snapping your neck." I could tell she was trying to keep her facial expressions under control, but she was struggling greatly. "And I still could do that way, if you wanted. However, I had a different idea."

I realized at this point that however romantic I wanted to make it, talking about her murder was not in any way romantic, nor was the actual act of murdering her. Regardless, I leaned in slowly and kissed her. It took minutes for me to gather the strength to back away from her.

"I'm not really sure how that would kill me," She told me in a shaky voice.

"It's basically just suffocation," I told her. "My hand would be blocking your nose, and my mouth would be blocking yours."

"I would struggle." She said immediately. "What if my vampiric side kicked in while you were trying?"

"However strong your vampiric side is now, it is still diluted by your human blood. It may not be easy, but I would be able to take some thrashing."

She closed her eyes for so long, I almost thought she had fallen asleep on me. Her hand grasped my fingers firmly when she finally said "I'd like to ride with you tomorrow."

I stroked her cheek with my thumb. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Rest well, Mariella." I leaned down to kiss her forehead, but she tipped up at the last moment and captured my lips with her own.

"Goodnight, Dimitri."


	21. Chapter Twenty :Intimacy:

_I know…I'm the worst. It seriously took so long to get any inspiration whatsoever to write this, and I know that that is a common excuse, which is pretty lame, but it's the truth. It doesn't excuse me leaving you all hanging, though. I'm going to try to crank out the rest of this book so that I can start on the sequel soon, because even though I've been an awful updater, I've kept up such a loyal fanbase that I feel the need to continue…and the character's journeys are not finished. I'm excited to reveal the sequel. It's going to have many, MANY plot twists and I can't wait to gauge all of your lovely reactions. _

_With this said, I need to utter a warning to all of you: _

_This chapter has explicit sexual content. If you are not completely prepared to read it or have any reservations, I'm sorry. This is how my story goes, and you are not obligated to read it.__ If you are fully prepared to read it, then please, with all means, ahead. _

_I look forward to reading all of your reviews...oh, and, P.S. This is NOT, under ANY circumstances, turning into a pornography read or anything near the whole "Fifty Shades of Grey" franchise/trilogy/world. That is not my aim. _

_With that said, enjoy this explicit chapter. _

_***Ace***_

_Chapter Twenty_

_**~Mia~**_

Light streamed through the hospital curtains on my left side, temporarily blinding me as I wearily blinked open my eyes. Alea was leaning over me, brushing hair out of my eyes and lightly patting my cheeks.

"Rise and shine!" Jade hollered from across the infirmary.

"That's such a cliché, it makes me want to barf in my mouth some," I blurted before I could stop myself. Jade looked at me in astonishment, and, after a moment, Alea burst out laughing. I apologized profusely.

"It must be Dimitri's blood in your system." Ella stepped into the room, her eyes cast downwards at the clipboard in her hands.

"Can it affect me like that?" My heart fluttered in my chest at the knowledge that I had a piece of Dimitri within me, running through my veins. His essence was literally coursing through me. It felt intimate, in a way. More intimate than sex. It felt as if no one should have known about it but him and me.

Ella looked up at me. Her hair was falling sloppily out of its messy bun, and when she tilted her head slightly to the side, more tumbled over the side of her face. She opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off.

"Indeed, it can." Dimitri strode in, a subtle smugness about him. I watched his long legs pull him across the room. He was dressed in a dashing pinstripe suit, black and grey stripes tracing the pleats of his pants and racing down the lapels of his coat. He pulled up a swivel stool next to the side of my bed. "We are linked now." My eyes widened. "At least until my blood is accepted and blended in with your system."

"That shouldn't slow down your recovery, though, Mariella." Ella interjected, shooting Dimitri a suspiciously venomous look. "If anything, it should speed up your recovery."

"Thank you for the care I've received," I replied so smoothly the words do not feel like my own. I must have made a face, because Dimitri's answering grin pulled me short.

Ella looked a bit gratified. She smiled at me. "You are free to leave and carry on with your daily activities." This is surprising to me, but I am a half-vampire, and I've got royal blood coursing through my veins.

Dimitri took my hand and steered me into the hallway. "It's invigorating, isn't it?" He murmured. Before I can even ask the question, he said "My blood in your system."

It did feel invigorating, but I'm not about to tell him that. Everything is heightened. I can truly feel each step I take, the fluidity I manage to accomplish without much effort, the soft feeling of the burgundy carpet underneath my bare feet, the feeling of Dimitri's calloused hand curled around mine. I wouldn't tell him any of this ever.

"You just did." He says smugly. My eyebrows raise in alarm.

"_Can you not feel it?" _He says, but then I realize he didn't say it; it's in my head. _"You can hear me, you just haven't been listening. But I have been listening for you. I have heard every thought you have had since you have woken up."_

That freaks me out a bit. That meant he'd heard about me ogling his legs, which wasn't necessarily ordinary for a girl to be admiring on a guy. _"That's an invasion of privacy. Get out of my head. NOW!" _I mind-scream the last word, and his flinch of surprise is more satisfying than it should be.

Dimitri cracks a smile. "We'll speak aloud. It is more comfortable, yes?"

"I believe so." I tell him. "What causes this…connection?"

"There is only folklore to go off of. These situations are quite rare." He paused to swing the heavy front door of the manor open. "Only a few incidents have been reported." His grip on my palm tightened the slightest bit. I'm not sure what he's trying to get at.

"Spit it out, Dimitri. Am I dying or something?"

He stopped abruptly. "What? Lord, no. Mariella, you are not dying. It's just…" He ran his fingers through his silky hair, agitated. "The only reported cases correspond to the cases of soulmates."

I took a moment to mull this over. "You lot really do believe in legends, don't you?"

"It's not just legend for us," He replied steadily. "It's history. Every so often, a pair of vampires comes along that are so connected it's undeniable that the two share an otherworldly bond. It's happened with heterosexual and homosexual pairs, friends who turn into lovers, whatever you may. The recurring theme in all of these pairs is that they become romantically involved, and once they are united, they become incredibly formidable forces. Some have turned to wreak havoc against our community; others help to protect and nourish it."

"So…you're saying that…" I gulped down my pride. "We present with some of these features?"

Dimitri gave a sad smirk. "Don't talk about it like it's a disease, Mariella." I blushed and looked down at the ground, ashamed. "But yes, that is what I am insinuating."

Something he said in his long spiel hits me with such a sudden force I'm not sure what to do other than take small, panicky breaths. "You said that every pair becomes…involved?"

Dimitri stopped, turned to face me. Tilted my chin up so I'm looking into his eyes. "Every kind of involved there is, Mariella. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, romantically" He leaned closer to my ear. "…Sexually." I could feel his spicy breath alongside my cheek. His lips grazed my ear. I knew my cheeks flamed hot tamale red. The thought of sex with Dimitri is unbidden, overwhelming. It would be wrong in all the right ways.

I felt it when his mind invaded mine. I know he heard that. Pushing into his mind is the next step. It's surprisingly easy. He wanted to kiss me so badly right now it hurt. His cold, broken heart constricted, like a dove in a vice. He wanted to pick me up, and run back to his bedroom, and do something that would not be acceptable under the scrutiny of others, especially God.

I knew then that he knew I wanted the same thing. But I couldn't. We couldn't. I erected my mental barrier, which I didn't know I could do, and then spun away from him, tugging him in tow by just his hand. The lust died down quickly.

"Do you ever think about what life would be like as one of us?" He asked, his long legs catching up to my strides. His faint accent flared up; it gave me pause. I couldn't concentrate when this happened.

I paused. Had I thought about it? "A few times," I admitted meekly. Dimitri turned to look at me, his eyes filled to the brim with question. "Never in a good light." I shuddered. "I always thought about it under the impression that all I would do is heartlessly murder people. I-"

Dimitri pauses in his stride. His hand tugged on mine as I continued to take a step. He pulled me back.

"You what?" His tone was guarded, cautioned.

I shook my head. "Doesn't matter." I mumbled. His forefinger met my chin, tilted it up to him.

"If you are to one day become queen, you mustn't mumble." He spoke affirmatively, confidently. The voice of a ruler was the pre-set setting of his vocal cords. I wasn't sure there was even a setting like that in my vocal cords.

"I haven't agreed to become queen, Dimitri." I blinked rapidly. Everyone had just begun to assume that that was my choice. Immortality. His face fell for the briefest of moments before his stolid mask was firmly back intact.

"What were you going to say, Mariella?" He coaxed, his finger dropping from my chin to my arm. I allowed the little chilly paths that his fingers made to run down my arm in ripples. "I am now intrigued." His accent was there again, and my brains fell away from me.

_"I was afraid of losing myself."_ He heard it through my mind.

Dimitri cocked his head to one side. "You believe that turning into a vampire will make you emotionless?" He took a miniscule step closer. "Closed-off?" Another. "Heartless?"

His nose was centimeters away from mine now. "Darling, what ever gave you that impression?"

I still couldn't get my vocal cords to function. Luckily for me, my brain spit out the word I didn't want him to hear. _"You." _

I thought he would take a step back, distance himself from me. Instead, his nose bumped mine, and he closed his eyes, sighing. I could taste his spicy breath in my mouth. It wasn't close enough.

His voice dropped down to a low whisper. "Emotion can be shut out in a vampire in just the exact same way it can be compartmentalized from a human. I've been shut out from the world of emotion for quite awhile." He grazed his nose along the bridge of my nose, across my cheekbone. "But something has changed." The lightest brush of his lips next to my eye followed.

His voice came to me not aloud, but in my head. _"You."_

It ignited a fire within me. I wanted his lips, now. It was impossible to deny. I wanted to feel him against me, beside me, now. No more waiting.

I struggled in vain, though. He moved agonizingly slowly, and I was sure he could hear my thoughts, how I yearned to meet his lips with mine, because, as he began to trace a pathway of kisses that snaked all along my face and my neck, he slowed down.

Small, incremental, slow kisses along my jawline. Pulling at my earlobe ever so patiently, softly, with his lips. Smiles as he nipped his way down my neck. A pause at my jugular. The smallest lick. Fervent kisses along my collarbone, and all I could do was pull his head as close to me as possible, lean my face down to his, but he avoided. Stalled. Trailing along my other collarbone, triangulating back up to my neck. Nips at my other cheek. Kisses at my brow. Tugging on my nose. I was ready to explode with anticipation, with want, with need. My body thrummed with eagerness, and I could feel his did too. He was level with me now; our noses touched.

I opened my eyes to find his onyx ones staring into mine. I waited. And waited. And waited….

He groaned, and his lips collided into mine with astonishing force. I wasn't ready; my nose crashed into his face. It didn't matter. He didn't wait. His tongue slid into my mouth, exploring, as I licked his lips. He tasted of cinnamon, of nutmeg, of earth, yet of something spicier, more dangerous than those mundane flavors. One hand at the small of my back, the other on my neck as I slid my own hands over his shoulders. A slide down to my thigh, and I let him grab it. I wrapped the other one around his waist, lifting myself up against his hips, and I felt a rush of wind, then a solid wall pressing against my back. I faintly smelled the earthy scent of horses.

He doesn't let me down on the ground. I don't mind. It's all instinctual, primal. I dared to move away from his mouth, across his stubble. It tickled my lips. To his ear.

He pulled me back to his mouth. I ran my hands through his hair, knotting it around my fingers and smashing his mouth closer to mine. One hand on my thigh, now; the other moved up to my neck, then down my spine, over and over and over until I felt the little tickles of repetition. When they hit, he moved lower.

His thoughts are a perfect indicator of what he would like me to do next, and mine are the perfect indicator for him. None of the awkward "I don't know what to do with my body." It was perfectly natural when his hand slid up my thigh. When my hands crept up his shirt. When his fingers undid the first two buttons on my blouse. When I pulled his shirt up and over his head, tousling his hair. When he threw open one of the empty stall doors and we flung ourselves down into the hay.

Dimitri hovered over me, resting on his arms, looking down at me in question. I wrapped my arms around his bare torso in response, pulling him down to cover the length of my body.

I hiked my knees up to keep him in position when his kisses fell down to my breasts. I slid one hand down into the back of his pleated pants and teased my fingertips along his skin. That's when I felt his erection against my hip. He didn't pause in his hypnotic kisses.

"_Are you positive?" _Echoed through my mind. I reached for his hands and led them down to the button on my jeans in response. It was more than alright. It was necessary. It was now.

He undid the button and slowly inched the zipper down its path as he trailed kisses down my abdomen, then licked his way back up my body.

"Are you guys even planning on riding toda-" Footsteps came to a crashing halt outside of the stall. Dimitri and I froze, looking over to see a wide-eyed Violet, mouth popped into a perfectly formed "O," eyebrows sky-high to nearly reach her widow's peak.

Dimitri zipped and buttoned up my jeans deftly before pushing up to his hands and then his feet. He brushed the hay off of my shirt, then extended his free hand to me. Cheeks burning, I stood up with his assistance and then rushed the buttoning up of my blouse. By the time I had finished, Violet's mouth had snapped back to its original shape, but eyebrows were still arched, and hands were on hips. It was a frightening combination.

Dimitri slid his hand into mine and squeezed. "We were just-" I began, but Violet stuck up a hand.

"I asked the wrong question." She said, a wicked glint beaming into her eyes. "The question was not whether or not you were riding today, but _who _you were riding." She eyed the stalls around us. "Not the horses, obviously."

I didn't think my cheeks could flame any brighter, but they did.

"We were simply trying to fit two activities into one day." Dimitri said smoothly, the hint of a smirk hitched up on the side of his mouth. "Don't worry, Violet. We still plan on riding the horses as well."

Violet grinned an eighty mega-watt smile. She flicked her raven hair over her shoulder. "Both activities are much needed, in my professional opinion." She waved her hand in a scooping motion. "Please, carry on. Think of it as an intermission." She smiled wickedly, winked at me, and walked out of the double doors of the barn.

I heard the double doors close, and then fell to the ground, hiking my knees up to my chest and burying my face between my legs. "That was humiliating."

"It is not as if we have not been in that situation before." Dimitri carefully reminded me. My memories flashed back to that time not so long ago when my vampire self had taken over, and I had entered his room to find him in a towel. It was a steamy afternoon, to say the least.

"We keep making this almost mistake." I groaned.

I felt Dimitri sit down beside me as his leg sat glued beside mine. "Oh, I see." He began, joking sarcasm thick in his voice. "Getting caught in the act of pre-sexual intercourse with me is horrendous, humiliating, blazingly idiotic-"

I turned my face over to him. "No. Not because of you, Dimitri." I saw his face lighten up the slightest bit. "Because…" I struggled for the words. "It's supposed to be a private act. And we just jumped right in without a second glance." He gave me a pointed look, as if to say "I asked you if it was alright."

"And don't get me wrong," I hastily added. "It was _good. _It wasmore than good." I took a shaky breath. "But I shouldn't be doing that with you right now, when I have a decision to make about my life. About whether to continue my life as an unnatural being or to end it unnaturally. It's a big decision, and I shouldn't be mucking it up with sex, or emotions; I should be keeping a level head and-"

"Emotions?" He interrupted, looking at me quizzically.

I rolled my eyes. "What, Dimitri, did you think I was just using you for your body?" I sighed. "You're a son of a bitch, but…"

"But you're falling for me." He finished casually. What was with his accent today?

I nodded hesitantly, suddenly becoming acutely interested in the nail beds of my fingernails. His hands grabbed my face quickly and his lips found mine. A deep, passionate kiss that would have finished what we hadn't had he not pulled away. "That is excellent." I looked at him, astonished. "Because I feel the same way about you."

My heart thudded. Dimitri actually cared?

And then I realized what was happening. I stood up too quickly, having to take a few steps to balance myself. This was all too cheesy, too flimsy, too floppy, too romantic.

"Let's go ride." I said, extending my hand to him. He smirked. "Horses." I clarified.

I tacked up Ringi, my mare, and we were off. Dimitri was much faster at brushing and tacking than I was, but I vowed that if I joined his lifestyle, I would beat him someday.

We flew through the forest at record speeds. Ringi had more endurance than I expected her to have. Dimitri and I cantered in circles around one another, then raced, then trotted. It was a fun, easy day, and when we returned, I received instruction on more technical things.

Untacking Ringi was a little bit of a struggle, because we were both slippery in our sweat. I fed her some grain while hosing her down.

Arms slipped around my waist, a mouth nuzzled my neck. "After you shower, I would like to have dinner." Dimitri's muffled voice was in my ear. I nodded in response. He kissed my cheek, hanging there for longer than just a friendly kiss, then walked out of the barn, already having attended to his steed. I shook my head.

What a beautiful disaster this was.

_**~Dimitri~**_

"Violet ran in nearly as fast as we can run," Jer continued. "And the news she brought was well worth it." He held back his boisterous laughter with a loose fist propped against his mouth.

"It was not a matter of importance." I tried to dismiss it, but we both knew I was lying. The only difference between us was the fact that I knew it had happened once before, not so long ago.

"I disagree with you, brother." Jer's eyes lit up with joy. "We have unofficially found our queen." He paused. "ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!" He shouted, ramming into me with thunderous speed and thudding his fists against my back.

"Shut up, Jer, she'll hear you." I growled, locking my arms around his neck and throwing him to the ground.

He threw his hands up in mock surrender. "What a convenient time for her to arrive, too. Just when you were about to nose-dive off of the deep end."

"I was _not _'nose-diving' off the deep end, Jeremiah." That was a lie, but I had to try.

"You visited the blood addicts every day, and, correct me if I am wrong, but I heard multiple rumors of the loss of virginity of many women downstairs. But surely you were only thinking of putting the staff at ease, yes? I am sure listening to your unhealthy addiction to sexual intercourse really helped them concentrate on their jobs."

I punched Jer in the gut. A miniscule gust of breath escaped from his mouth, and he lightly touched his stomach. "Unnecessary," He grunted.

"Fine. We did not…sleep together, though." Jer looked up. "Meaning Mariella and myself."

"Damn close, according to Violet. She said that she walked in to see the two of you practically inside-"

"ENOUGH!" I roared. Violet stood in the doorway, a smug smile hanging off of her lips lazily.

"Don't even try to deny it, Dimitri, we all knew it was more a matter of when, not if." Violet sauntered into the room.

I stomped out of the room, huffing. This was not how I had wanted to go into dinner with Mariella.

_**~Mariella~**_

With Jade and Alea's help, I was quickly ensconced in a satin blue kimono that sported hummingbirds flitting up and down the thin fabric. It wasn't a very conventional kimono; the back was completely open, the material bunching at the small of my back in a scooping fold. It was beautiful, but my stick-on bra was a hassle. Alea insisted I dealt with it, because the dress was too beautiful to pass up.

It was beautiful, and, with an elegant twist up bun trailing up my head, I looked beautiful, too. I had suddenly become very conscious of my physical appearance, given that I had become somewhat intimate with an irresistibly attractive man.

Dimitri was nothing like David back home. David's blonde hair curled into little spirals that tucked his ears away. His just-less-than cerulean blue eyes weren't necessarily overwhelming, but they were nice to look at in a refreshing kind of way. Add his cleft chin in, and he was the picture-perfect puppy dog boyfriend. David's personality was exuberant and joyful; even when he was upset, it was a light feeling. I never felt anything less than weightless with him.

Dimitri was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. Mystery exuded off of him in dark plumes of smoke, and I couldn't help but be pulled into his orbit. His dark hair looked black indoors, but, when the sunlight caught it correctly, rich brown tones were unearthed. Dimitri's eyes were true onyx, only slightly lighter than his pupils. It was unnatural, the way they seemed to capture the light in the room and ensnare it, so that they were the only things glowing. He saw in black and white but lived in areas of grey. Jack-assery might have been his forte at times, but, the remaining amount of time, he was a passionate, caring man who I cared for more than I liked to admit.

I realized with a sudden, simple thought what was so different between the two. David was still innocent, still a boy. Dimitri was a man.

So where did I fit in? Had I progressed enough to consider myself a woman? Or was I still coming out of adolescence?

I was pondering this still when Dimitri knocked on my door and entered. I smirked. "Entering my chambers without my verbal consent? You're getting much bolder."

Dimitri squeezed my hand as he intertwined our fingers. "I was not aware that I needed verbal consent after I had gotten physical consent."

I blushed mildly. The statement didn't embarrass me as much as it normally would have; it was probably a side effect of having some of his blood still running through my system.

Jade and Alea muttered hushed farewells, ducking out the door not long before Dimitri and I departed as well. "Where are you taking me?" I asked, shutting my bedroom door behind me. I secretly hoped it would not be a long walk, because the heels my feet were placed in were limited in space.

"Up to the roof. I don't believe you've ever been there before. Not that many people know about it." He replied, giving my hand another small, probably unconscious squeeze.

We climbed up several flights of stairs, the last set of which curved in on itself, before we made it to the top. Dimitri extended his free arm to open the door, and I cautiously stepped through.

Thousands of stars twinkled in the blue black sky. Only a few straggling clouds wisped their way across the easel of the atmosphere. Rectangular lanterns were sporadically hung along the balcony railing, the diaphanous material casting a soft oval light about two feet in front of each. Nestled into the right corner of the roof was a circular table, the top made of shimmering crystal. I must have been staring at thousands of dollars at work. Atop fancy plates was a very humble meal.

I turned to Dimitri. "Mac and cheese?" He smirked.

"The rest is all so lavish, I felt like you could use a little slice of humble pie."

I choked on my own breath. "You know the term 'humble pie?'" I paused. "And to say that _I_ need it? What about _you?_"

He squeezed my hand delicately as he led us to the table. "Nonsense. I have grown up with this grandeur all my life. It is you who is new to these ways, and I plan to make the completion of your transition as seamless as possible."

He pulled out my chair for me, and I began to shovel the pasta in my mouth before he had even taken his seat. An arched eyebrow was the only judgment I received.

I swallowed. "What makes you think that I will make the decision to 'complete my transition?' It's as if everybody seems to think that is my decision nowadays."

Dimitri twirled his fork in his fingers before slamming it, tines down, into his open palm, splayed across the table. I gasped, grabbing his hand and watching the blood seep through the gaps between his fingers and pool atop the table before the bleeding quickly ceased.

"Because of your feelings for me." I looked up at him as he took his napkin and swiped up his blood. "Do not deny that the feelings are not mutual. I know that mine are whole-heartedly present, and I know that they are not one-sided." He grabbed my hand with his own, the one that had been bleeding profusely moments before but was now completely unmarred.

I gulped my pride down to ask the question that had been weighing on me for a while now. "Then what _are_ we, exactly, Dimitri?" I waved my pointer finger between the two of us. "What is this?"

He stared at me as if I'd spoken a foreign language. "I don't know what to think. First, I'm stolen from my family by these lunatics who believe they are vampires." Dimitri cocked an eyebrow, as if to ask "lunatics? Really?" I continued. "Then, I am given three months to make the decision between joining in their lunacy or death. _Then,_ I find out that they are not crazy, that they were actually telling the truth about them. My only friend at that point decides to inform me that she is marrying into the royal vampire family and becoming one herself. After that, I start to find the vampire side of myself emerging, doing completely _unacceptable_ things with the heir to the vampiric dynasty. After that, I realize that maybe even the human side of me has developed actual feelings for this heir, but he leaves me in the dark. He then decides to tell me that if I were to become a vampire, I would be joining the royal family as his wife, his queen. That leads us up to today: I almost had sex with you in _hay_, I'm one and a half weeks away from making my decision, and I am informed that I am most probably soul-mates with this heir. Throughout this whole thing, the most convoluted question of all has not been my existential, completely consequential decision, but, rather, where _we_ stand!" I finished the whole spiel in one breath. The air left my lungs in a whoosh. "So, again, Dimitri. What _are_ we?"

His confused stare had crept into a grin, pulling his cheeks as I spoke. I was fascinated by the way his jaw seemed to widen when he smiled, the way his stubble looked thicker. I tried not to focus on those things, though. Instead, I focused on regulating my breathing, examining his eyes, how they exuded a mischievous glint.

"Mariella," He purred. His voice sounded lower, rougher. "As much as I have adored listening to your ranting-" I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. "Especially that small bit about the hay," He grinned. "The answer to your question is not under my control."

My eyes widened. That's what he was going to give me? Nothing? "it is your choice what we are, Mariella. Our fate is in your hands as much as your decision of becoming a vampire. It is out of my jurisdiction, at this point."

He paused to rub his thumb across the tops of my knuckles. "If you decide to…end your life, then we will have been a fleeting glance, a passing moment in time." He gave my fingers a light squeeze. "Yet, if you decide to join the royal family, then you would be my queen. That is not to say that we would be married; a queen and a king do not have to be married in vampiric tradition." Another pause. "However, I assume that we would become engaged at some point in time afterwards, after taking into account the pace at which we have developed a bond." Dimitri looked up, away from my hands, up into my eyes. "As for the soul-mates issue, I figure we would unearth the truth as we went along. There would be a moment of clarity, one which would give a definitive answer. After that, we would know." His voice fell to a hush, barely above a whisper.

I tried to churn through my fluctuating emotions before saying "That was not a definitive answer."

He smirked. "The only definitive answer I can provide for you is how I would like the situation to end."

"Tell me, then." I asked him, half of me not wanting to know, but the rest needing to.

His onyx eyes burned into mine. "I have never wanted a woman in all of the ways I want you. You are all I need in a woman, and a partner, and a ruler. Strength and wisdom, beauty and compassion, yet enough indifference to rule justly. I have never met another embodiment of such a walking balance. And while you are a far cry from perfection, so am I. You fill my short-comings, and I believe I do the same for you. The perfect ending, for me, would start with your decision to continue your life as a vampire, extend it eternally, and spend the remainder of your existence by my side, as my fiancé, then my wife. We would rule together once Giuseppe steps down." He slowly let my hand fall from his as he picked up the second fork that was not soaked in his blood. "That would be the perfect ending, for me."

"Where does my old life fit in in this picture, Dimitri?" I asked quietly. "What about my friends, my parents, gymnastics, a career, college?"

"You can return to your parents after all of this. A union between you and me would probably result in a cease-fire of this passive-aggressive war our parents have engaged in, and, if we had the time, we could hunt for the missing fang and get to the bottom of the whole predicament. You could return to school, finish your high school and college education as well. Social events are not off-limits. Nothing is, except for revealing your inhuman nature to humans. As for your gymnastics, I hope you would continue to pursue ultimate achievement. It is not technically against the rules for vampires to compete in the Olympics." He smirked. "However, I am sure you would have an unfair advantage."

I could picture this life in my mind. It would take a while to adjust to life as a vampire, but I would be able to do it. Afterwards, I would go to college. I would be reunited with my parents. Screw the rules; if I wanted to tell Katy and Jeanelle, I would. I'd go to parties and outings just like everybody else. I would horse-back ride, I would continue gymnastics, and I would learn to guide and oversee the vampiric world. As for Dimitri? I'd figure it out when the time came. Marriage was a big step. Did I love him? I didn't know completely. I did know that my feelings for him were deeper than they ever had been for David or any previous boyfriends. Dimitri was right; he did fill in my short-comings, and I filled in his.

I shoveled another spoonful of macaroni into my mouth. Dimitri watched me carefully. We finished the dinner in a mutually contemplative silence. I stood up and walked over to the railing, staring out across the tops of the tall evergreen trees. Strong, all-too-familiar arms wrapped around my waist. Warm breath brushed my ear.

"Do you have a decision?" He murmured. "Have you made a choice?"

And I knew, in that moment, that I had.


End file.
